TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Quoting Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com>:
> While I do not have direct access to such data, my sources tell me that
> there has been no significant change in market share with the introduction of
> activation.
Interesting, if true. But I suspect that companies also need to be concerned
that the negative publicity surrounding the issue might affect market share.
It also occurs to me that the statement cuts both ways. If activation did
anything, then wouldn't there be an increase in sales after activation was
introduced? So, even if activation doesn't affect sales, it may still be a
waste of resources.
> Furthermore, changes in market share are much more likely due to product
> features than activation. In general, organizations do not make purchasing
> decisions based on the specifics of licensing. They make it based on price
> and
> capability. Licensing is an afterthought.
I'm not so sure about that. Changes in licensing schemes have produced
statistics that suggest that many organizations have reconsidered buying
products as a result.
However, I've yet to see figures about whether organizations actually didn't
buy as a result of licensing changes, so who knows?
Personally, I suspect that the open source tools wouldn't have made such
inroads if licensing didn't have an effect. Many executives equate free with
poor quality, so something must have happened to overcome this prejudice.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604-421.7177
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
