CompuServe Messages

meshes…

    04-Jun-94 17:49:27
Sb: #105770-meshes…
Fm: John Ellis 72440,3046
To: Syndesis 76004,1763
John, I really uploaded those utilities as partly a market test but mostly as a public benefit. As I said I kept them shareware in order to retain the rights. I've religiously updated them once a year. <G> And for the praise and thanks I've recieved it has been well worth it. >> Another thing we all need to keep in mind is how to pay for the kind of nice, (needed!) long term support we like (demand <g>) in the software we buy… then you need to work those overhead costs into all calculations… Absolutely! Something that can kill a company fast is product support, but which, as American Consumers, we've come to expect. I didn't specifically mention that other than to say that "it was more or less a full time effort" for that very reason. I think some people have the impression that this kind of thing can be done as a hobby on the side after work, well maybe at $10 a program but what kind of support can you expect to get and who is going to spend a half hour on the phone helping you solve your problems at that rate. If its a serious product with serious professional application, its got to be the real thing. Nobody has yet figured out a way to do this any less expensively other than to mass market a lot of products together. Which is actually a good reason to get with a mass marketing effort, where Pavel has a better chance to make a success of it. You can be congratulated on your success, as I think you are the exception not the rule. Typically follow up product is where one starts to pass break even. I'm only aware of your CD currently, so excuse me if I've missed some of your other efforts. (Now there's an opening for a "free" plug. <g>) -JE -JE