Re: Price Gouging

[vogt@netcom.com (Christopher J. Vogt)]

In article <199402221902.LAA29673@holonet.net> rparker@holonet.net (Rich Parker) writes:
[...]
>Although all "hardware" companies _try_ to make a profit on their
>development software, this is rarely the reason for creating it. The usual
>intention---and I believe the intention of Apple with MCL---is to open new
>business areas for the sale of _HARDWARE_.

Let me reinforce this thought.  I specificly purchased a Quadra 700
two years ago because I wanted to run MCL.  Without MCL I never would
have bought a Mac, I'd have puchased some other Lisp, and some other
hardware.  Further, a soon to be customer of mine, is buying their
first Mac, in an office of hundreds of PCs, because they want my
product, so chalk up another hardware sale, a Quadra 950.  Not to
mention all the periferals, monitors, modems, memory, keyboards, printers,
scanners, anything else I may have forgotten.  I have two other potential
service contracts, and if they come through, I'll be buying another
Mac for myself to support those contracts.

Currently I'm in the position of trying to figure out where I am going
to have to port my application if Apple does drop MCL.  Not something
I like to spend my time doing.

Bottom line is that MCL sells hardware, as any development language does.
Profit should not be thought of as coming from MCL sales, but from hardware
sales.  

[...]
-- 
Christopher J. Vogt vogt@netcom.com
From: El Eh, CA