Dave said:
>>
I think it's really sad that this is the case, and, the new
way of selling support or updates compounds that problem and makes it
harder to sell (in my experience).
<<
It might make it harder for you to sell. That doesn't mean that
(overall) it is a less profitable way for Runrev to function.
Indeed, I think maybe some clarification is required here. If you
are renewing an existing license, Rev is really insignificant as a
business expense. If you are buying a license for the first time,
you no longer get the free 1 year of upgrades that earlier licensees
got. Well, sorry for those people who are a little late to the party
- maybe you should turn this around and consider that existing users
of Rev are being rewarded for the past good sense and loyalty.
Believe it or not, I actually agree with you that this change in
pricing seems like a backward step for Runrev - but neither you nor I
are privy to their thinking, and I just assume that if it does not
work as they expect they are shrewd enough to make the necessary
changes.
Now, what are you referring to WRT "the new way of selling support"?
I don't think that the costs of support have changed, and
furthermore, as I pointed out in an earlier email, the cost of
support incidents from Rev are remarkably low compared to the other
support options for products I use/have used.
>>
It may help to realize that there is a big distinction made (both at
RunRev and with seasoned RunRev developers that have come to the
environment via HyperCard/MetaCard) between the IDE and the Engine.
This means that more support effort is put into developing/fixing the
Engine than the IDE. The problem with this is that new customers do
not see this distinction until further along the RunRev route and
treat it as one big package.
<<
There is no reason for new users to be aware that there is a
separation between the engine and the IDE (in fact, there is every
reason to keep that complication away from new users). We are in the
enlightened position that the engine and the IDE can be separated,
hence the availability of other IDEs (all still provided by the same
engine). That doesn't mean that Runrev have neglected the IDE, as
far as I can see, so what makes you say "more support effort is put
into developing/fixing the Engine than the IDE"? I just looked at
the change log files that came with 2.7.4 and they are both 8kb in
size, but there are far more bug fixes listed for the IDE than there
are for the engine.
Bernard
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