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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Osama Captured (Possible Virus Hoax)
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 04-23-2004 08:34 PM
quote: Kyle McEachern
It's not that Linux users don't want to pay for ANYTHING, it's that they're not stupid enough to pay $4,000 for TWO programs.
Those two programs I mentioned are professional, trade specific pieces of software. They're not "consumer" titles. Have you ever priced industry-specific software?
My day job is doing electrical sign design. Show me a credible sign design application that doesn't cost $4000 or more. Show me a professional large format RIP program that doesn't run thousands of dollars. Show me 3D CNC routing program that doesn't cost thousands of dollars.
Try running a business doing things like CAD work, 3D animation, digital video production, engineering or graphics oriented manufacturing on "freeware." You will not stay in business long --that is unless you load up on many thousands of dollars worth of pirated warez.
I have no problem with companies like Alias|Wavefront charging upwards of $8,000 for Maya Unlimited or over $20,000 for their AutoStudio app. The problem I have is with cheap assholes who steal that software and then compete against other businesses who made their software investment legally.
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Kyle McEachern
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 165
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 04-23-2004 09:37 PM
Bobby, I'm not trying to say that there are only one or two piece of software out there that are outrageously overpriced. I understand that there are a great many.
What it boils down to for me is this. If someone who works a 'normal' hourly-pay job, then for them to get Maya Unlimited, per your example, would cost them nearly a full year of not eating, driving anywhere, buying clothing, or living under a roof. Quite a price for someone who is looking to get involved in an industry.
Again, my point was not that cheaper alternatives to this software exists...simply that this software is, on the whole, priced such that only those who are already succeeding in the given market can afford them, and will therefore continue to excel, given that they have the most cutting-edge software for such applications. These 'cheap assholes' that you speak of are generally people who are simply trying to make a living doing something that they like doing. Half of the time, if they HAD that much money to spare without starving and evicting themselves with such a purchase, they would make it.
Unfortunately for the price-gouging software makers, there is a simple alternative for these horrible, nasty, evil, cheap, mean, gutter-dwelling, bad-smelling, motherless sons-of-bitches that can't afford the $6,000 piece of software...I bet they even use ARIAL! Chances are, MOST businesses that are going to use such software are going to do so legally, because it allows them many advantages, such as better tech support and more likelihood of upgrades working properly. However, for some people, it is just NOT AN OPTION. Perhaps you'd LIKE to keep them out of your industry, but if it's what they love to do, then more power to them.
If this software cost even $750, which is MUCH more affordable to a MUCH greater group of people, I do in fact believe that piracy of such programs would drop. When it's a 'professional, trade-specific piece of software', people much prefer having a legal copy, if it's anywhere within their realm of possibility.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 04-23-2004 11:08 PM
To address the Maya situation, Alias|Wavefront has "personal learning editions" of apps like Maya, Alias Studio and Auto Studio free for download. And they have academic pricing for their full operational versions. Good luck on finding schools with certified courses in Maya though.
Even still, Maya is not a piece of consumer computer software. It is priced for businesses and engineered solely for those in business. There is a very limited user base for Maya. The application cost a ton of money to develop and maintain for the SGI, PC and Mac platforms. That cost has to be amortized out across its limited niche market. Alias|Wavefront would lose their shirts if they just sold it for $600 like Adobe Photoshop. They don't have a user base of millions like Photoshop.
Unless you are a pretty successful freelance artist, it would be pretty stupid to drop $8,000 for a commercial license of Maya just to install on a home machine. And you have to be pretty well off to afford the hardware it takes to run Maya at any speed beyond painfully slow. If you can't afford to buy Maya, you'll either have to buy a lower cost 3D program, like Lightwave3D ($1,500) or create artwork that doesn't require a 3D program to get completed. There's lots of professional artists out there who create work only using mainstream apps like Freehand and Illustrator.
quote: Kyle McEachern
These 'cheap assholes' that you speak of are generally people who are simply trying to make a living doing something that they like doing.
Generally, I don't agree with that. Sure, there may be some exceptions. But generally I see two camps when it comes to the warez use trade.
The largest camp is casual computer users who download cracked apps like Maya, Softimage, Studio3D Max, etc., only to collect them and probably hardly ever use them beyond a simple level of curiosity (this is certainly true when they are confronted by the huge learning curve). I really don't have any problem with these folks, because they're really not part of the professional user base in the first place.
The "cheap assholes" of which I speak are people getting paid to do work using illegally obtained software. And that's probably not the only illegal thing they are doing either. Warez makes it a lot easier for one operation to conduct predatory business practices against another, such as severely undercutting a bid and then doing shit work when winning the job.
When it comes to making a living in the graphic design industry, the real legit designers have had to struggle pretty hard over the last decade (especially recently). Standards have dropped horribly and the industry is largely being de-professionalized.
quote: Kyle McEachern
If this software cost even $750, which is MUCH more affordable to a MUCH greater group of people, I do in fact believe that piracy of such programs would drop.
I can't completely agree with that. The most pirated pieces of computer software are all apps that cost well under $750. When it comes to graphics apps, I'm willing to bet the vast majority of installations for apps like Photoshop, Macromedia StudioMX or even CorelDRAW are pirated.
The situation is bad enough that PhotoshopCS has that activiation feature built into the PC version (of course I think that doohickey has already been hacked). Perhaps Adobe figures anyone running the Mac version of Photoshop is running a legit copy from a computer in a graphics business. Hmmm. I have a lot of registered Adobe and Macromedia apps. That might explain why I get a lot of Mac-oriented junk mail. They must think I use a Mac!
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