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Re: Thoughts on a Wolfram|Alpha package for

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg101972] Re: Thoughts on a Wolfram|Alpha package for
  • From: AES <siegman at stanford.edu>
  • Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:15:49 -0400 (EDT)
  • Organization: Stanford University
  • References: <h41f31$rfv$1@smc.vnet.net> <200907202321.TAA26029@smc.vnet.net> <27371444.1248261423587.JavaMail.root@n11> <h49514$q20$1@smc.vnet.net>

In article <h49514$q20$1 at smc.vnet.net>,
 "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net> wrote:

> There is a problem with charging anything for software. People just think
> they can dash off whatever software routines they need and it cost them
> nothing. Or that they should be able to get it for free. Some people think
> it is actually unethical to charge for software. I think this is very
> misguided. (I did check prices on the Wolfram web site a few years ago and
> the packages ranged in price from a few hundred dollars to many thousands of
> dollars. Maybe with those prices one would balk. These prices might

Just for one data point

* I will (and do, fairly frequently) pay in the low tens of $$ for 
useful one-task utilities.

*  I will (and do) pay in the low hundreds of $$ for solid, well-done, 
well-document, useful apps (e.g., Acrobat, Illustrator).

*  If I were starting ab initio, I'd probably pay $500 for a full-bore 
version of Mathematica, with at least two full years of upgrades included; $250 
to $300 for a "student" or "home" version.

These are, in most cases, personal or personal-business funds.  And, 
anything over $500 (loaded price) comes on a CD, with a printed manual, 
and with all upgrades for three full years, or forget it.


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