Question

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

So, Vista..!

[LotusLocost]

Perhaps. But otherwise I would not be able to fully take part in my education. IF i had gotten all programmes from retailers I would have spent close to 800€. 800 euro's equals about 150 hours of work for me !.. I can barely stay out of the red numbers, so it is a lot of money for me.

Perhaps you are in a priviledged position that you can afford it, but I aint. I would simply not be able to buy Photoshop or any other professional software without getting a loan.

PS:
You'd be surprised about how much I use Photoshop for my education !

You know that this "privileged" place is called life?
A product costs money, then you have to pay for it.
If you don't have the money to buy a new product, what can you do?
A: You can buy a used one.
B: You can steal it.

And the situation you called "a privilege", I would call the normal..
You are the privileged one, that don't need to pay for products and services.

[Pando]

You do realise that this will only make future editions of the software even more expensive?

Now that's a bit naive thinking isn't it? Of course that's what the companies say, and of course they lose some money to piracy. Still even if everyone that uses a piece of software would pay for it the prices wouldn't change, there is no reason what so ever for a software developer to lower the prices in such a situation. Piracy might even have the opposite effect, just look at the price development of music in the last decades, I used to have to pay around 25€ to get the new CD of my favorite band, nowadays you can get most new CD's for well under 20. A coincidence?

That said, open source for the win.

So, Vista..!

Hey you, get back off-topic will ya.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Now that's a bit naive thinking isn't it? Of course that's what the companies say, and of course they lose some money to piracy. Still even if everyone that uses a piece of software would pay for it the prices wouldn't change, there is no reason what so ever for a software developer to lower the prices in such a situation. Piracy might even have the opposite effect, just look at the price development of music in the last decades, I used to have to pay around 25€ to get the new CD of my favorite band, nowadays you can get most new CD's for well under 20. A coincidence?

No, not quite- it's because technology gets cheaper as it gets exploited more. As things advance, prices get cheaper because the technology gets easier to produce and the R&D has been paid for.

That said, open source for the win.

Hey you, get back off-topic will ya.

[Pando]

No, not quite- it's because technology gets cheaper as it gets exploited more. As things advance, prices get cheaper because the technology gets easier to produce and the R&D has been paid for.

Yes production costs get cheaper when things advance, but that's no reason a developer of software or a record company to lower the prices. Competition is. Be it with other companies, open source or piracy.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Yes production costs get cheaper when things advance, but that's no reason a developer of software or a record company to lower the prices. Competition is. Be it with other companies, open source or piracy.

I think it probably applies more to hardware, like DVD players, but hell... I was up for a quick duel!

The problem with software not going down in price is that people do exploit it. I think that £600 is ridiculous for a piece of music software (Logic Pro), but I did pay for it- albeit £335, from eBay

Simple fact of the matter is that you either pay the money required, or leave it. Photoshop CS2 is £125 on eBay, and multiple games are under £10- so why the antipathy?

If you can't afford it, stop moaning, and work out how to afford it.

[Pando]

I think it probably applies more to hardware, like DVD players, but hell... I was up for a quick duel!

Yes it does, CD's for instance were significantly cheaper in price half way through the nineties than 6-7 years ago. The drop in price is very recent and it has nothing to do with technological advances. Hardware is a different story all together.

The problem with software not going down in price is that people do exploit it. I think that £600 is ridiculous for a piece of music software (Logic Pro), but I did pay for it- albeit £335, from eBay

Never have I seen any conclusive evidence that high software prices have any correlation with piracy. Piracy is just an easy scapegoat when developers are criticized for their prices.

But on the other hand - piracy can possibly lead to reduced software quality and many bankrupt companies.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Yes it does, CD's for instance were significantly cheaper in price half way through the nineties than 6-7 years ago. The drop in price is very recent and it has nothing to do with technological advances. Hardware is a different story all together.

They were bloody expensive when they first came out. Also, DVDs are a good case in point- I seem to remember early ones being £24.99 and sometimes above, for one disc, but now you can get them for as little as £2.99- jsut abotu 10% of what they used to cost. Odd.

Never have I seen any conclusive evidence that high software prices have any correlation with piracy. Piracy is just an easy scapegoat when developers are criticized for their prices.

But on the other hand - piracy can possibly lead to reduced software quality and many bankrupt companies.

You're probably right, but don't forget the hours of R&D these companies spend sinking into their products to outdo stunning previous efforts- which could easily account for Logic's price (humungous amount of features, and it's world-standard) as well as Photoshop. Both are utterly amazing programs, and I think that we don't understand the full potential of such things, therefore will not comprehend the significant wallet-wilting prices associated with them.

[Pando]

They were bloody expensive when they first came out. Also, DVDs are a good case in point- I seem to remember early ones being £24.99 and sometimes above, for one disc, but now you can get them for as little as £2.99- jsut abotu 10% of what they used to cost. Odd.

The prices for newly released DVD's are pretty much the same here now as they were shortly after the DVD format was broadly released. One still has to pay silly prices for new movies on DVD. Now with new formats, even the new DVD's are likely to sink in price before being forgotten altogether. As a format gets older the desirability of mid/low-price products drop and so does the price. It has very little to do with the production costs decreasing.

You're probably right, but don't forget the hours of R&D these companies spend sinking into their products to outdo stunning previous efforts- which could easily account for Logic's price (humungous amount of features, and it's world-standard) as well as Photoshop. Both are utterly amazing programs, and I think that we don't understand the full potential of such things, therefore will not comprehend the significant wallet-wilting prices associated with them.

You are right and I didn't take a stand on that nor whether the high software prices were justified. I just wanted to state that the prices are not high because of piracy, but in many cases despite it.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

I'm not disagreeing, just compounding what you're saying... I think!

[Pando]

I'm not disagreeing, just compounding what you're saying... I think!

I disagree with the 'you think' part and agree with the disagree part... or something like that.

[my porsche]

However if humans never took a risk they would still be stuck in the stone-age

Quit trying to make profound quotes.

What you're doing is called stealing. No matter how you rationalize it to yourself. If you get a program that normally costs money and it was not given to you by an authorized dealer or a freind who was done with using it, it is stealing. End of.

Always paid for software, always will.

[Pando]

Perhaps. But otherwise I would not be able to fully take part in my education. IF i had gotten all programmes from retailers I would have spent close to 800€. 800 euro's equals about 150 hours of work for me !.. I can barely stay out of the red numbers, so it is a lot of money for me.

Perhaps you are in a priviledged position that you can afford it, but I aint. I would simply not be able to buy Photoshop or any other professional software without getting a loan.

PS:
You'd be surprised about how much I use Photoshop for my education !

Don't you get the licenses/programs from school if you need them in your education? At least the universities here give all sorts of software benefits to the students - even totally unrelated with the studies.

[gtface]

Studica.com has pretty reasonable prices for students.

[Wouter Melissen]

Did you ever hear about a check ? I didn't. It is the developers/ artists the ir own fault basically. If it would be cheaper, it wouldn't be downloaded this much..

First of all, being able to get away with stealing does not make it any more legal. Secondly, professionals are regularly checked. Adobe makes a habit of checking out places where photographers flock like media centres. But I am sure you knew this.