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Subject:Re: Training (was: What would you do? Part 2.) From:Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:36:31 -0700 (PDT)
Actually, given the current market, it makes sense.
With the complexity of OS and app these days, the main
costs are upkeep and support.
This is one area where Microsoft and Dell are cleaning
up. They offer support, and so are a "safe buy" for
any manager. At one firm I worked, an exasperated
manager told me for the first time how Microsoft's OS
was cheaper to run than Linux, and the support was
better. Having assumed the opposite, I was blown away.
But when you think about it, there is no default
application install. Hardware differs, software
differs, and user needs differ. So few people want to
get involved in any technology path that does not have
a support component, and that's where most of their
cash goes.
I've heard rumors that many software firms do not
break even on the software sales itself, and make
money off of the support alone. It's an interesting
variation on the old software model, and I'm
reasonably certain it's responsible for the decline of
DRM custom solutions on most software except the
heavily intuitive stuff (visual editing).
--- Kevin McLauchlan <kmclauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>
wrote:
> Also, for additional giggles, what do people think
> of the notion of a
> software/tool vendor selling WEB-based training on
> their HELP AUTHORING tool
> for more than the price of the tool itself? Is
> there not a certain irony in
> that?
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