Thank you yin-so now we get down to the root cause of the problem, at todays
prices we obtain a computer with all necessay hardware(incl scanner/printer)
and a Windows OS (oem) for less than US$1500.oo (in asia).But if we are to
buy original software such as Office, Mathcad, Matlab or/and
Mathematica/Maple/Paperport and a few other supporting programmes for
what-more than US$10,000.oo i.e.software cost is nearly 90% of the total
(and maybe higher) for a PC station. More stations we need more
licences/more costs(so it so doesn't get cheaper). For what?-developers say
R&D is high for new software but by the time we get to version 6 for most
people that is enough, version 7 only adds enhancements e.g.web networks
etc.The product itself consisting of CD(s) and packaging cannot cost more
thanUS$10, which includes the investment for CD copying & packaging line.
Even manuals now come as softcopies.
So the general population resorts to obtaining illegal copies (as Yin
correctly states).
Education institutions cannot-but having limited budgets they obtain the
hardware/limited software and in-house write the software (regardless of how
time consuming or/and poorly written it maybe).
Commercial companies are then the market for such software - but is a
product such as Maxima known; I only know of it through Chiang.C. Mei's(MIT)
book which is obtined from local library. Unfortunately maybe Maxima's
development was impedded through bureucracy - today I notice more
university's having a product, setting up a company to further develop and
bring it to the market and then selling it off to/or a joint venture with a
third party to fully commercialise and market the product - did this happen
with Macsyma?
Thank you
Bill Rance