#Educ Disc RWar
8 messages in this thread
You can't get me to defend educational discounts. I don't think they build
brand loyalty, I think they foster a I'm- special- I- demand- a- discount
attitude that only causes people to search for more discounts. I've got at
least two messages here on my desk from people looking for educational
discounts. One guy, I know he's called every time we release a new product.
We've given him the same answer, no, we don't give educational discounts, every
time he's called for the past five years. I'll often say, "Gee, will your
college give me a discount because I'm a software developer?" or "I didn't get
a discount on tuition when I went to school."
I'd be tempted to think that Autodesk's educational discount prices are due to
their success in the CAD market. I'm sure they regard their educational
discounts as a way to protect their incredible market share. Like Novell, you
gain an incredible momentum from having a network of educational institutions
who teach your product, as well as dealers, consultants, etc. that have their
careers built around your product. (Cynic in me says that complicated,
difficult to configure programs will always have an advantage in this respect.)
But these days, all the big players have educational discounts. College
bookstores of any size have a software section with incredible discounts. I
choked, too, when I saw the prices. Again, I don't see the "why" here. It's
because students are poor? Students who are able to buy $2000 computer systems,
but aren't smart enough to budget for software, too? Or because students
really need to set up a full-featured "home office" / learning lab because they
don't want to walk in the rain to use the hundreds of computers that the
University persuaded the legislature that they need to "keep up?"
On the other hand, piracy plays a big part in this, too. If 3DS was
unprotected, how many yahoos with a network of 486SXes and pirated 3DS would
you be fighting when it comes to discount rendering?
So far, you've avoided my questions about how you plan to differentiate
yourself from these discount animators. Really, I'm trying to help. Other
people here on the forum might have some ideas, too.
To start another thread, exactly how did you determine that 3DS in regular form
costs "too much" but that the educational price isn't "too much"? Compared to
what? Yes, I'm a Midwesterner, and I read the "Tightwad Gazette" regularly,
grow my own vegetables, make my own jam, and mow my own 2-acre lawn. The road
outside my office is the same red paving bricks that were there a hundred years
ago. The town paper still reports things like "Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so were
guests at the Harris residence on Saturday night."
I'll always give advice like "Computers are a profoundly bad investment." In
terms of re-sale value, software is right up there with a truck full of
tomatoes. After a while, it's tough to give it away. On the other hand,
there's nothing like a fresh tomato. 🙂
John….
PMJI….BUT….I really think you are going a littl overboard here on the
educational pricing issue. If you as me (you may decide not to..:-)…) the
educational pricing issue has been manufactured buy the software developers
themselves. Case in point you buy 10 stations for a lab.. sets you back $20,000
then software.. AutoCAD $ 15,000 Microstation $ 3,000. Which one do you choose?
Which one does my bean counter choose, who just got $1,000,000 cut from his
operational budget. What happens when all those students hit the job market.
So Now look at it from the employers side… lets see I have ready trained
students on Mstation and a learning curve on ACAD to fend with So as an
employer (if I'm not computerized) choose Mstation because it becommes cheaper
to implement.
I personally believe educational discounts is good for the long term
viability of a software manufacturer. Make them pay for it, try to make sure
they protect it, but if you ask them the full price you will not get it.
Roger C.
Yes, I agree, it's the seller (the software companies) who are doing this.
Obviously, in any bid situation, one player can undercut the other. And
bean-counters don't care about tech specs or the market of software or
popularity *unless* the educator demands it. Don't blame the bean-counters,
blame the person buying the software. If you can't explain the difference
between AutoCAD and Microstation to your higher-ups, then maybe it really makes
no difference which one you buy. For that matter, you might be able to buy 20
copies of a $100 program, too. What happens when those students hit the job
market? Oh, the employers learn they can't read and write, dress themselves,
or behave in public, just like any other new employees. 🙂
Hi, Roger. This is Roger. <g>
I don't think you'll find too many people who will argue about putting software
in a computer lab. But what about the who knows how many people who know
someone who has a student ID, who are just looking for good pricing?
Roger D.
Hey..
Yes, and even though it was a while ago I still remember what it was like
to be a student. Food on the table first, then books (mabye), computer
software???? Unlikely….
Roger C.
John,
If quality has ever come to be the question, I don't think I've ever lost one
yet (fingers crossed). I'm not doing terrible, but I do have some time free
now again. I can't tell you there's only a finite amount of money for
everything needed, and a couple more of those thousand dollar renderings would
help pay the bills off a lot faster, even if they do end up being more work
that they're worth. But to be honest, I think my biggest advantage has been
all my previous work and life experience. It helps me get the point of what's
needed or wanted a lot faster. It is difficult in this region, though. A lot
of the work seems to go to the bigger media towns. I'm real close to
relocating. Now if I can only get Autodesk to stop subsidizing my competitors,
that might help too. <g>
Roger D.