JB> Then maybe people under 18 shouldnt have these programs? Or maybe they
JB> should have theyre parents get them these programs. Or maybe, just maybe
JB> they should do a little work, get some entreprenurial (sp) spirit rising
JB> from theyre souls and gets something together to MAKE the money.
JB> joe.
  Or maybe software companies should come up with some innovative ways to 
eliminate software piracy.  
  If I'm a 15 yr old, and get a computer for christmas, as if I'm going to 
ay
hundreds of dollars for Office 97, or WP 57.0 (or whatever the hell version 
they're up to).  Entrepreneurial spirit or no.
  I don't see the big software companies suffering.  And if smaller companies 
or free lance programmers are suffering because of software piracy, f**k 'em.
Joe Blow programmer should have had the sense to pick up a couple of 
arketing
courses on top of his Computer Science degree...  
  Point: software is too expensive.  It can be free.  Look at the Free 
Software Foundation.  Look at the record earnings of current software 
companies.  Who's hurting?
  Computer software is one of the only fields where the law of diminishing 
returns doesn't apply.  All of the investment is up front, in developping.  
Once it's developped, manufacturing costs are low.  A floppy/CD and a manual. 
That's it.  Low cost-manufacturing.  Let's say you've got 100 people 
developing a new application.  This includes programmers, manual author's, 
etc.  Average salary: a generous $50,000 apiece per year.  Let's say it takes 
a year from conception, to shrink wrapped packages.  Total cost: $5 million.  
Software sells at $200.  The company only has to sell 25,000 copies to break 
even.  Anything after that is PURE profit. 
  How many paid copies of Win95 are out there?
--- DOG Pound BBS
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