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In the days where software was distributed on magnetic media, such as reels of tape, cassettes, or floppy disks, it cost a lot of money to get the product to a
by mkn 15y ago
In the days where software was distributed on magnetic media, such as reels of tape, cassettes, or floppy disks, it cost a lot of money to get the product to a customer.
One of us is misremembering. I seem to recall an interview with Gates and/or Ballmer where they talked about the realization that the cost of 5 or 6 floppies at wholesale was insignificant compared to the revenue from the software, that it was a no-brainer cost-wise. CDs were the first time when cost became an issue, iirc (again) because you had to pay for one or more masters to print the production copies. I'd feel better if his history was right.
This time the retail channel itself is very cheap, but the ancillary costs, both financially and emotionally, are very high.
And, of course, only large companies and publishers can bear these costs. My fear is that It’s only a matter of time before developers find the risks and expenses prohibitive and retreat to the safety of a larger organization. We’ll be going back to square one.
I can't even address the "emotional costs" he talks about, but there is a precedent for dealing with risks of this kind. For consulting engineers, it's called "errors and omissions insurance." It strikes me that if there isn't something like that for developers, one plausible reason is that this kind of liability hasn't actually been a problem. Is there errors and omissions insurance for developers?
From our experience, it’s entirely possible that all the revenue for a product can be eaten up by legal fees.
The author uses the phrase "from our experience," but I wonder what that experience actually is. At this point, it's not even anecdotal, because he doesn't supply the anecdote! We can't even begin to ask if his experience generalizes. For example, did he get good counsel? Was he actually infringing? Should he have settled? Did he avail himself of the FSF or ESF if applicable? Should his product have been more profitable?
I think I'm either blessed or cursed with too much curiosity to take this guy at his word.
- allwein 15y ago>One of us is misremembering. I seem to recall an interview with Gates and/or Ballmer where they talked about the realization that the cost of 5 or 6 floppies at wholesale was insignificant ... I'd feel better if his history was right. Sure, the cost of delivering a single copy of software to a given customer was relatively inexpensive. But Craig is talking about how, in the absence of the internet or other easy customer acquisition and distribution methods, the way you used to get your software to customers was by making thousands of physical copies, boxing them up in a nice shiny box with manuals, and have computer software and electronics stores display your software on their physical store shelves. And that's quite a bite of money to have tied up in inventory even though a single piece of media itself was relatively inexpensive.
- shareme 15y agoI have similar article quality concerns... Even magnetic tape reels were not that expensive..I seem to remember that RMS earning half of his expenses just from revenues of supply code by magnetic tape alone.
- allwein 15y ago>The author uses the phrase "from our experience," but I wonder what that experience actually is. At this point, it's not even anecdotal, because he doesn't supply the anecdote! Craig is a very well-known developer and author in the Mac and iPhone developer community and works at Iconfactory. They're one of the first companies that was addected when the Lodsys patent issue came to light. Even if you didn't know that, the very previous entry on his blog is an open letter to Apple about the problems his company is having with the patent issues. It's a little disingenuous to call someone out about omissions in a blog entry while taking zero effort to familiarize yourself with any of their work.
- boucher 15y agoIt seems perhaps as disingenuous to think that because you know a (very) little bit about the Lodsys issue that the anecdote that all of a products profits can be consumed is true even in this instance. After all, Apple has been standing up in defense of individual developers on this issue.
- smashing 15y agoThis is not true. While this may be true in the future, Apple is not currently involved in the legal defense of companies involved in the Lodsys lawsuits and there is no timetable for which they will enter such an involvement.
- smashing 15y agoThis is not true. While this may be true in the future, Apple is not currently involved in the legal defense of companies involved in the Lodsys lawsuits and there is no timetable for which they will enter into such an involvement.
- mkn 15y agoIt's a little disingenuous to... I know we're supposed to be civil and not say anything to anyone on here that we wouldn't say to their faces, but, well, but nothing. I'd say the following to your face. Fuck you. It's out of line to call someone calculating and not straightforward when you have no idea what their actual motivations are. Asshole. Karma be damned.
- shaggyfrog 15y ago> Is there errors and omissions insurance for developers? Yes. I got a quote through Creechurch for E&O (along with liability) to insure my software dev consulting, but the cost is prohibitive for me right now. Maybe I'll do it when things pick up.
- chipsy 15y agoHere's the anecdote: "How much are you spending on marketing?" If the number is too low you won't even pass the retail gatekeepers. There was a period earlier in the timeline(the late 70s and the start of the 80s) where one might succeed in breaking into retail without a large spend, but between then and the rise of cheap web apps and app stores, the market for independents was in shareware mail-order and downloadables, which have much higher purchase friction, and thus lower conversion rates.