open this package and you're stuck with it

[John A. Weeks III]

In article <2550117 at hpisod2.HP.COM> decot at hpisod2.HP.COM (Dave Decot) writes:
> So go see a demo before you buy! That's what you do with a $350 TV, don't you?
> I never bought a TV without examining it at the store, why should you?

Dave, you struck a small nerve with this statement.

Have you ever seen a software product that you would be interested in at
a retail store?  You might have well stocked software stores where you
live, but that is not true nationwide.  There is not a computer store
within 400 miles of my house that knows what a tape drive or a postscript
is, let alone a C compiler or a linker.  Stores stock only what sells, 
quality and functionality are not part of the profit formula.

TV's, on the other hand, are quite popular locally. Also, TV's are tightly
regulated by the FCC, UL, and the FTC as to what they are allowed and not
allowed to do.  There is no quality or functional regulations for software.
You can sell a total piece of fraud as software and be in the legal right
because you sell a "right to use" or "object code".

I can go see a TV demo, but I cannot see a software demo.  I can evaluate a
TV picture, but, in general, not software.

As a result, I buy everything computer related by mail order, and I hope
that the savings out weigh the cost of the klinkers that I occasionally
end up with.

-john-

                    "Never purchase software that is not
                    commonly pirated 'cause you don't want
                    it if the pirates don't want it..."

-- 
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John A. Weeks III               (612) 942-6969               john at newave.mn.org
NeWave Communications                ...uunet!rosevax!bungia!wd0gol!newave!john
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