Suggestion for Bell Tech Ad (was: Re: Bell Tech Pricing)

[Wolf N. Paul]

In article <243 at belltec.UUCP> dar at belltec.UUCP (Dimitri Rotow) writes:
>
>Your right, we do emphasize the *complete* part in the ad ... The reason we
>do so is that our publication of UNIX is the *only* UNIX you can buy which
>is genuinely complete and uncut ... the usage of "complete" was intended to
>refer to the fact that you get *all* of UNIX, including *all* of the 
>development tools, RFS, Streams, TLI, and everything else.  I think that's 
>unique enough to want to emphasize in an ad, but not at the cost of 
>risking people getting a misleading impression.  If the flames continue
>we'll change the ad ... any suggestions on how to get across the idea that
>you get *all* of UNIX whilst retaining the disaggregation of media, license,
>and docs?

If you agree that the wording in the ad is ambiguous, why wait to see if the
flames continue?

And it's not all that difficult to change: just add a line of small print
right after your big, bold headline like this:


	              U  N  I  X
	            S Y S T E M   V
	           R E L E A S E   3
	           F O R   8 0 3 8 6 
	           F R O M   $ 1 9 0
	           C O M P L E T E !

	         (2-user license only;
	   Media Kit $ XX , Docs $ XX extra)

	Buy the complete Intel/AT&T UNIX
	system V/386 product created for Intel
	Corporation and certified by AT&T on
	AT compatibles, for only $145 for the 2
	user license, and only $275 for the
	unlimited users license. Media kits
	are available for $XX and Manuals for
	$XX.

	The price includes all development
	tools, C Compiler, link kit, vi, and all
	other UNIX utilities, files and programs,
	including Remote File System, Streams,
	and TLI. 386/ix AT device drivers from
	Interactive Systems assure AT
	compatibility. One low price buys 
	all of UNIX.

	...

One of the major weaknesses of the current ad is the fact that the price of
the media kit is not mentioned at all.

>We'd be happy to sell you just a license, except that you cannot copy your
>friend's diskettes [AT&T's rules, not ours].  Since AT&T imposes profound
>restrictions on the physical duplication of UNIX media we believe that we 
>must sell at least one copy of physical media to each licensee in order to
>have a defensible case in court with AT&T.

Weeeellll -- in that case, you need to say so in the ad (assuming that the
media kit costs $45):

	              U  N  I  X
	            S Y S T E M   V
	           R E L E A S E   3
	           F O R   8 0 3 8 6 
	           F R O M   $ 1 9 0
	           C O M P L E T E !

	Buy the complete Intel/AT&T UNIX
	system V/386 product created for Intel
	Corporation and certified by AT&T on
	AT compatibles, for only $190 for the 2
	user license with media kit and only $320
	for the unlimited users license with
	media kit. Additional CPU licenses without
	media kit are only $145 and $275,
	respectively.

	The price includes all development
	tools, C Compiler, link kit, vi, and all
	other UNIX utilities, files and programs,
	including Remote File System, Streams,
	and TLI. 386/ix AT device drivers from
	Interactive Systems assure AT
	compatibility. One low price buys 
	all of UNIX.

	...

Even when quoting the price of license & media kit combined,
your product is still by far the cheapest, so why be less than
candid and honest about your prices? You're not gaining anything
and risk losing your reputation.
-- 
Wolf N. Paul * 3387 Sam Rayburn Run * Carrollton TX 75007 * (214) 306-9101
UUCP:     killer!dcs!wnp                 ESL: 62832882
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