Earl says "I think that it is time for their business model to change."
It may very well be changing - and soon, Earl. Take a gander at the proposed new X12 revenue model at Washington Publishing's WebBoard at http://webboard.wpc-edi.com/upload/X12%20RevModel%20102204.pdf. This draft is scheduled for vote during the November X12 Steering Committee meeting. Note that the price (to X12 members) of the X12 table data is going up from $1650 to a whopping 10 grand! At this point - assuming you need a machine-processable set of X12 standards - it becomes a no-brainer to just get someone to sit in front of XML Spy with an X12 book and manually code them up in some kind of XML form. Of course, the first version will be tough sailing, but after that, the relatively small incremental trimester changes will be a snap. On the other hand, machine readable XML schemas for XML-based e-business standards are almost always freely (i.e., free for the taking) available. William J. Kammerer Novannet, LLC. Columbus, OH 43221-3859 . USA +1 (614) 487-0320 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Earl Wertheimer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "William J. Kammerer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "EDI-L Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, 22 October, 2004 10:37 AM Subject: Re: [EDI-L] Re: Format of DISA standards CD WIlliam > Earl, the price they are asking for gas at the pump is totally absurd; > should you fill up and make a run for it, then? The price they are > asking for music CDs is totally absurd; should the old Napster be > resurrected? The price they are asking for pharmaceuticals is totally > absurd; these things are simple enough to manufacture once you have the > formula - should a generic manufacturer sell them before the patent runs > out without first obtaining a license? The price they are asking for > Windows XP and Office 2003 is totally absurd; wouldn't it make more > sense to buy a CD with the software from a street vendor? Your analogy is false. Gas, Music, Drugs and Windows are sold by companies in business to make money. There is still a place for musicians to play without charge or programmers who write Open Source software. The development and maintenance of these standards is done by companies who contribute personnel. I can't really call them volunteers, because most of them work for companies in the same field. When you work on the committee or attend meetings, is your time paid by Novannet? I would be very surprised if the answer was no. Novannet (and other companies) benefit from having their employees participate with these committees. I don't have a problem with that. It benefits the companies involved and all the other participants. We'll ignore the conflict of interest that occurs when these same companies become the only source of certification for the standard (like AS2). > Having said that, there could be an argument made for X12 to give away > the standards if it had a different business model. But X12 hasn't done > that, yet. So in the meantime, you have to buy the book, the CD, or > properly licensed software with the standards embedded within. Agreed. I think that it is time for their business model to change. That's why I am constantly commenting and finding ways around these restrictions. According to their Form 990 for the year 2002/2003, DISA spent almost $500,000 for Occupancy. I don't know about you, but $38,000 per month for 'occupancy' seems a bit high. They spent 1.5 million dollars in salaries & compensation. How many people are on the payroll? The Staff Directory shows 13 people. That works out to an average of $115,000 per person. Where do I sign-up? > Besides, it's extremely likely that the "ordinary" EDI user could make > do without the X12 materials, as you'll rarely be called on to build EDI > messages entirely from scratch. Your larger trading partner will > generally supply EDI implementation guides that you can map from. Or > industry groups often provide their guides for free or nominal cost. Agreed. That's why I've created a web page with links to all the on-line specifications and resources that I know about. If nobody complains, nothing will change. Earl Wertheimer [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.spe-edi.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/OIFolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> . Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Access the list online at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
