#CD ROM Prices
11 messages in this thread
Nelson, I recently received your catalog of CD ROM disks. The pricing
structure you dealers have to live with is VERY strange. Some expensive
disks were discounted only a few dollars under list and others were many
hundreds of dollars under list price. Unfortunately my Media Vision MPC
upgrade kit is not eligible for the bundle deals you list. Let me ask a
stupid question. Why in many cases are the bundle prices so much under the
regular prices? Do you see any relief in sight for high CD prices?
You are right about the pricing of CD-ROM's being strange. Since my overall
business is based on very high volumes with tiny margins, all we do is take
whatever prices we get and mark them up a little, so what you see (in terms
of price relationships) is what *we* get.
Pricing CD's is an extremely difficult problem for anyone. Take Languages
of the World. For what it offers, it's "list price" of $950 might be
considered a bargain for a professional who NEEDS it in their work. But the
average home user who might like to have it around for occasional reference
thinks even the discounted price of $449 is out of sight.
PsL's public domain and shareware collection is another example. We have
resisted putting it on CD-ROM because its value to a person who wants to
get into the pd/shareware distribution business is easily over $10,000. To
the average user, the value (in saved disk fees and/or connect charges for
downloading over the course of, say, a year) might only be in the $300-$400
range.
So the problem for every CD publisher is how you charge the professional
the value of CD to them while still making the CD available to the home
user at a reasonable price.
Re your other questions: the reason that the M.V. bundle is not eligible
for the bundle prices on the CD's is that it already includes bundled CD's.
Can't have it both ways. If you prefer, you can buy the PAS card and Sony
541 separately and pick which ever bundle-priced CD's you wish, though I
think the M.V. bundle is still your best deal.
I recently asked the same question on here about why publishers would
bundle-price their CD's. The replies should still be on-line.
Mr. Ford:
Pardon my intrusion here but I am interested in upgrading my "upgraded PS2
50Z-386SX 20MHz) to multimedia-ready 'puter via the much talked about PAS
and perhaps a Sony or NEC CD-ROM Drive and needed accessories. Since I am
one of those minority Microchannel owners, my question is does PAS have a
microchannel version, and to assist me in making wiser decisions, please
give me a brief lecture on the jargons of CD-ROM such as MPC compliant, and
other similar greek acronyms. Thanks.
Dean
Nope, PAS doesn't come in an MCA flavor at this time.
MPC is a new standard for multimedia software/hardware. Basically, MPC's
minimum system requirements are a 386SX, a sound card with MIDI and with
DAC chips, and a CD-ROM drive with a sustainable throughput of at least
150k/sec without using more than 40% of the CPU's bandwidth.
The Sony CDU-541 meets these standards for sure. Others may or may not.
Some companies, even Sony, are apparently trying to sell off their old
stock of non-MPC drives, so you have to be careful about low-cost drive and
bundle deals if you are getting a CD for general use and don't want to have
to buy a new system 6 months or a year from now. Whether MPC becomes THE
standard (and it's off to a good start) or not, it is highly unlikely that
any other standard will specify *slower* or less efficient drives.
Nelson,
And Languages of the World is also a fine example of what it ought
to be worth, vs. what it is worth: In order to actually use it you end up
with a 160k non unloadable TSR, and you can't change the hotkey either.
Even for a professional user this is enough of a PITA to knock the
percieved value down. For the home user, well for 2 or 3 words, I can find
them on paper faster, since I _won't_ keep that TSR loaded, wherefore the
thing is nothing but a toy worth maybe 20 bucks.
Frank
Well, the publisher's point is that most people using most word processors
can spare the 160k, and I would have to agree with that. And of course, if
you are running Windows, Desqview, or some other task swapper, you can have
it in its own window and still have most of your DOS RAM available, so I
wouldn't say it is worthless.
I thought the interface was a little cumbersome, but the search speed and
the quality of the information it displays impressed me very favorably.
Yes, when I'm running a word processor I can spare the ram. But what about
the other four hours/day. When I'm running a format conversion I need every
byte I can get. In other cases the memory is more useful than the
dictionary. That's why I grumphed about the non-unloadability.
DesqView might be worth another look. Windows I know too many ways
to hang. Usually with a job in the background that has been running for 2
hours and whose output I need by fedex pickup time.
Frank
You can unload it by using Mark/Release. It is on IBMSYS forum under the
name TSRCOM, I believe. It is also on PsL's disk #436, "TSR Utilities".
Wiht Mark/Release, you can unload/disable/renable any TSR.
Nelson,
What does a Sony CDU-541 plus the PAS interface (I assume that's a
combination of cables and Trantor driver) cost? I have a PAS and would
like to compare the relative merits of buying the remainder of Media
Visions kit (do you sell it or do I have to get it from MV?) vs. buying the
Sony 541, interface, and a RYO bundle.
—Glen
The Media Vision Multimedia kit sells (by my company, PsL) for $720 plus $8
shipping. That's the credit card price. By check/m.o., it's $680.
It consists of the Sony 541, the Pro Audio Spectrum stereo sound card with
SCSI interface built in, and three CD's: Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia,
Jones in the Fast Lane, and Windows with MM Extensions.
To roll your own, you would get the Sony 541 at $450, the PAS internal
interface kit for about $20, then whatever CD's you want at bundle prices.
Compton's is $140 and Jones is $40. (I assume you got the Windows CD with
the PAS card?) The total of those is $650. So with that combo, you should
be able to come out way ahead by selling your PAS card and buying the kit.
The Media Vision Multimedia kit you mentioned seems quite good. Does your
company accept oversea mail order.
Has the Pro Audio Spectrum stereo sound card got MIDI interface?
How good is Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia compare with The Software
Toolworks Illustrated Encyclopedia.
–Kong–