CompuServe Messages

Interesting discussion. I hope you misunderstood, because the hobbyists certainly aren't the problem and don't deserve any less than the pros. As a pro user (which I'd define strictly as somebody who uses it to earn a living), I'm very grateful for the "hobbyist" because the prices would be out of sight if we were the only market, as Pete pointed out with Ampex, Grass Valley, et al. For example, a "Pro" Nikon F4 camera no doubt would cost 10 to 15 times its $1600 price if only professional photographers bought it — there aren't enough of them to support R&D, tooling, etc. etc.. However, all I really have to sell is time and if it takes me 10 minutes of testing to learn which direction the rotate function rotates because it's not in the %$#@ manual and a competitor using another system can find it in the manual in 60 seconds, then I can only charge 1/10 his hourly rate and better stay away from projects with tight deadlines. So it's very easy to justify a few hundred dollars more for a real manual, 'cause I can make it up in a week. A hobbyist can't. What should the hobbyist do? Keep buying, and encourage others to. And hope the percentage of pro users doesn't increase before the total user base gets large enough to support better testing, manuals, support, etc. Otherwise the pros might demand it, pay for it, and drive the prices up for us all.