Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site dicomed.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!dicomed!boylan
From: boylan@dicomed.UUCP (Chris Boylan)
Newsgroups: net.arch,net.followup,net.micro
Subject: Re: AT&T and the 3B*2
Message-ID: <199@dicomed.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Jun-84 19:43:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: dicomed.199
Posted: Tue Jun  5 19:43:08 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 6-Jun-84 07:13:55 EDT
References: <426@drutx.UUCP>
Organization: DICOMED Corp., Minneapolis
Lines: 53

>From: jerry@oliveb.UUCP (Jerry Aguirre)
>Everyone seems to think this is AT&T's idea.  When the manager making
>the purchase sees a list of the software he is paying for he is going
>to start asking about what kind of discount he can get if he doesn't
>buy nroff, the C compiler, and uucp.

>Not everyone wants to do development on these machines.  Some people
>will probably buy it for a dedicated application (it would make a nice
>center network node) or will just run vi and nroff on it.

This is all true and a good argument, however the reverse position is
also true.  Generally people want a language and a bunch of tools,
whether they are database systems or yacc isn't really important, and
from my point of view selling them a stripped UNIX system and making
them buy the things they specifically know they need isn't doing them
a favor.

For the most part, selling a stripped UNIX system at a "lower?" price
forces the price up for those users who will use/need a wide
assortment of tools [included but not limited to us or at least me].

It causes the manager (as per Jerry's article) to preceive
the system costing less, at the expense of not getting the
"free" software [no flames, please] thus making it MORE expensive
should the application change, it's scope expand or the number or
applications increase.

I would rather see potential unbundlers send the software along
on an extra tape, floppys, cassette, etc. and use it as a feature:

	Includes 43K of software at NO additional cost!!!

A lot of the IBM-PC compatible people toss in `3000 dollars'
worth of software at "NO" addition cost to good effect.  It worked
for Osborne for quite awhile.

Anyway, another approach would be to offer the excess software 
at a nominal charge so that it wouldn't price it out of the reach
of those really wanted it ALL while still providing some encouragement
to the inexperienced buyer to plan a little bit and/or "splurge"
for that little frill.  Prehaps the software leasing plan that
has been mentioned in this forum is AT&T's attempt at this...

As an aside, I think the person who suggested that disk storage
capacity is a reasonable limit or excuse for not shipping everything
had a good point.  It doesn't appear (from what I know) that this
is a real problem but it is an eminently reasonable determining factor.

-- 

	Chris Boylan
	{mgnetp | ihnp4 | uwvax}!dicomed!boylan