CompuServe Messages

Hi John, ->If customers started thinking and weighing their software purchases along ->rational, calmly-calculated lines, then the software industry would collapse ->within weeks, from Microsoft on down. 🙂 Ha! Well put. The multimedia industry would evaporate overnight. ->If a Consumer Reports of 3D-reviewing magazines were to arise, how much would ->you pay for a subscription? One thing that makes Consumer Reports succesfull is a clear-cut set of measuring criteria that can apply to all the products reviewed. The study of buying a car has been mastered over many years, and very clear guidelines exist on what constitutes good features vs. bad. The study of buying software, especially 3D software is at best undefined. The difference is that most everyone has experience driving a car, and a car is a fairly finite machine to operate. 3D software is relatively complex to operate and no two products are alike. If someone developed a standardized suite of tests and benchmarks to compare products, and established credibility as an independent non-biased organization, I'd pay good money for the output, since as time marches on the purchase dollars/risk get bigger and bigger for me. The audience isn't that large today, but wait another year or two… -Heinz.