Subject: Re: Bad business: Selling Betas
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked] (robert hood)
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 95 00:03:33 PDT

On Wed, 18 Oct 1995, [email-masked] (robert hood) wrote:
>I've had a couple of people express concern/distaste at my intention to
>sell the Beta version of BML at a discounted price, and at this practice
>in the software industry in general.  Since this attitude really does
>concern me, I thought I'd jump the gun on them (sorry Ben =|^) and throw
>out a general question on the topic.
<SNIP!>
>Personally, I was happy to get my hands on the Beta (a.k.a. pre-release)
>version of LightWave.  It allowed me to get an almost six-month jump on
>learning the product than I would have had otherwise.
>
>However, I was not using it for professional purposes, but -- at this stage
>in the game -- as a learning tool in a career change.  I detected very few
>bugs in the product (others found more), and was generally a happy camper.

	Professionals need whatever advantage they can find, even buggy,
ill designed messes of software, as long as that s/w does something he/she
needs to do.

	IMHO buying betas is great, not only because of competitive advantages
(not really an issue in the real world, pour moi) but because it gives you
a perfect opportunity to REALLY rag on the author(s) at a time where it will
actually do some good.

	This effect is even more marked  in internet intensive companies or
individuals.

	AND, it's not like somebody is holding a gun to their heads.

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