CompuServe Messages

Perhaps a side note on *why* Amiga software prices are less than those for Mac & IBM. It basically has to do with companies selling software not for a price which reflects what it cost to make, but rather a price which is perceived as the amount the market is willing to bear. If the buyers in a market are willing to pay more for a particular type of product, then the software publishers will charge more for that software, even if it didn't cost more to make. (Note this is a general market trend, and is often inapplicable on a company by company basis…) Thus, on the PC, where the purchasers of software are really big corporations who could care less about the price of the software and more about who makes it or whether it matches their existing installed base, you may find yourself paying $500 for a word processor, whereas a similar word processor on the Amiga, where the market is smaller businesses and individual users, both of whom are more cost conscious, it might cost only $200-$300. Or less. Of course, this has some unfortunate side effects: Since the Amiga version of a program would need to sell for less, and is selling to a smaller market than the PC, it doesn't get as much support as the PC might. So we have less of a software base, and many of the larger companies simply don't think it worthwhile to support the Amiga. But even this has side effects: If the software *was* supported and created, the Amiga would sell more to larger corporations, resulting in higher support and higher prices. (Heck, even the current level of software support may drive things up eventually. The Mac was in our position a few years back. Now look at the high priced software being made for it. I fear Amiga software prices are doomed eventually to follow.) –>Steve Bennett