Judy Perry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> replies to Richard's
assertion
> > But HyperCard was not a $100 tool.
>
by noting
> --But that's what it sells for. For a purchaser, it IS a
$100 tool.
>
But Judy, that is only at first. As a developer you have
either had to extend at some cost HC's functionality or find
some excruciating way around its limitations, or eliminate
certain directions of development.
The fact is that Revolution extends functionality FAR beyond
HC plus its externals. The only things I am aware of that HC
does better are speech and "playing" sounds -- and even
those are covered by a now free external collection of
Tuviah's.
> --Again, you are arguing feature category and I am arguing
product
> category. The above argument makes *perfect* sense when
trying to convert
> users of Director or ToolBook; it fails, however, when
trying to convert
> users of HC & SC. And the latter *is* actively courted!
>
But "feature" category counts heavily for HC & SC users as
well. And **support** has to be a point considered as well.
So Apple sold its product for $100. Did Apple *support*
Hypercard the way Revolution is supported? What is the
feature set of Revolution as compared to Hypercard? Have you
done the comparison?
> > It sounds like there may be an argument for another
product with a more
> > limited feature set for that category. What limited
feature set would be
> > acceptable? Would limiting the standalone builder to
single-platform
> > deployment provide what you need?
>
> --Perhaps.. Although Win-Mac cross-platform would be
nice.. Payment for
> a longer script limitation would be perfectly accceptable.
>
Hmmm. What would you consider fair? Now remember, when you
talk about cross-platform you are talking feature category
and not product category! Unless you want to move the price
comparison away from HC to Director.
> --Here's what has always confused me:
>
> (1) Both Rev & MC have tried to woo the HC community.
>
They consider -- and rightly so IMHO -- that Rev and MC are
a natural extension and upgrade of HC.
> (2) Both Rev & MC have stated an active interest in the
educational
> community.
>
Yep, their educational pricing for the schools is great.
Even better than Hypercard's was.
> (3) Whenever members of either community have noted that
the pricing
> structure is not suited for their particular community,
they're then (and
> only then) told that the product is REALLY geared towards
professional
> developers who should be prepared to pay professional
prices. This
> leaves people frustrated. Imagine shopping for a car --
the sales ad
> lures you in with attractive pricing on, say, compact cars
but when you
> arrive, you're directed to the BMW section and told that
this is what you
> should expect to pay for a 'real' car while the salesman
points out what
> Mercedes Benz' cost.
>
There are a *lot* of factors that go into this. My
understanding is that if you are a hobbyist, you are allowed
to play with full functionality for free, with the single
exception of the scripting limits. If you want unfettered
access to scripting as much as you want, you pay for it.
HC made their player free, but you could not develop with
it. You *can* develop with the free Starter Kits available.
It really is like the car company giving you their
speed-limited BMW car for free. You are getting all the
bells and whistles and comforts of the car. After all, Rev
and MC are *not* HC, they are so much more! And you can have
the limited version, free. If you want unfettered access to
the pedal, pay for it.
Rev and MC have to choose their market well. If they don't,
they will go out of business. Then where will you be?
> > I don't think that would be a conflict. SuperCard is
agressively priced,
> > and if you're only developing in an educational
environment and just for Mac
> > OS and don't need other RunRev features or performance,
SC is a good value.
>
While SC is aggressively priced, has SC's feature set been
aggressively expanded? Is it cross-platform?
> --Wouldn't the Rev folks prefer that all those sales went
to them instead?
> Why else hire somebody to create a policy to lure the K-12
market?
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Judy Perry
>
Judy, I know they want to please everybody, but they can't.
If they don't make money, then they can't offer a product. I
am sure that the expenses associated with what they are
doing are enormous.
Now can you offer some solid suggestions to them, say, as to
how much you would pay for expanding the script limits to a
certain extent? And how much you would pay for some
functionality disabled? For example, if they offered a
version that produced ONLY Mac-readable stacks, would you
pay for that, and how much?
I am sure they want to have a viable business model. But
pricing it the same as HC (or even close) won't work. HC's
pricing/distribution model is why it is no longer supported
and why it was never adequately developed.
Raymond
