sad day on PLUG

[Craig White]

On Sun, 2007-11-11 at 07:54 -0700, Derek Neighbors wrote:
> Craig,
> 
> 
> On 11/9/07, Craig White <craigwhite at azapple.com> wrote:
> > > Derek's point about Leopard being a service pack with fanfare is well
> > > made. There *are* some nifty new features, but only a few. It's a point
> > > release, just like the 10.5 version reflects.
> > >
> > > And your point, Craig, about corporate profits is not lost on me,
> > > either. It sure makes things work differently than with releases in the
> > > open source world.
> > ----
> > sorry...I am never proud of myself when I do sarcasm...calling Mac OSX
> > 'the other BSD' was tongue in cheek.
> >
> > Truth be told, enough people (I set a fairly low watermark of 5) on the
> > local MacOSX Mail list felt that I was too negative about MacOSX to
> > remain on their list so I un-subbed as I had promised to do if it
> > reached the mark.
> >
> > I was surprised to see Derek take a swing.
> 
> I pride myself in trying to not be too much a fan boy in any
> technology.  I try to call a duck a duck and a spade a spade.  I
> really like OSX and Mac hardware in particular.  However, this last
> release while releasing some nice things like time machine and spaces
> is really just a point release.  Even Microsoft doesn't charge $100
> for a point release. If something deserves it, I will take a swing at
> it. :)
----
Apple has been pitching this upgrade for 2 years.

Whether there is justification in charging for 'point release' updates
sort of obviates the entire discussion since companies like Microsoft
and Apple exist for the sole purpose of delivering profits and a users
perception of value is gradually becoming less important because the
newer devices, bug fixes, etc. are only available to those who pay to
play.

It's probably time for Apple to make licensing options similar to
Microsoft's License 6 so their users can 'annualize' their payments to
Apple and simply use the latest version of available software.

What becomes apparent is that the model for charging for upgrades (once
again selling to your customers what you have already sold to them) is
inevitably exposed as the farce it has always been.

Don't forget to update your copies of iWork too!  ;-)

Craig