> While it is certainly possible I don't understand > what they mean by charging $10,000/year and $1,500/year > per .NET app ...
They mean to make money, I presume. Microsoft has finally figured out what every software company is eventually going to have to figure out: It's almost impossible to maintain impressive growth rates by selling software with one-time license fees. Microsoft wants to find a way to get paid _each month_, again and again, for as long as you use their software. This arrangement has existed in the mainframe world since time immemorial, but the PC world is only just now catching on. The problem is, this set-up offers virtually no advantage to consumers, and they are used to paying just once, so I don't know how well it will go over. Business customers have less choice and can be coerced more reasily. Unfortunately, I can't offer an easy alternative. Software has already bloated into a monster that requires supercomputer horsepower just to boot and is never more than 10% used by anyone, and this because it is necessary to endlessly build "upgrades" in order to maintain a revenue stream, which in turn implies adding features and functions that occupy more space and resources and serve practically no purpose. .NET-style initiatives will eliminate this to a large extent, but paying forever to use a software product isn't very appealing, either. The problem is that software never wears out, so a person who buys a product with a one-time license can use it forever. Unlike a car or washing machine, there is never any replacement business. Of course, if you can convince people to buy new and fancier software, you can continue to make money; but in recent years consumers have finally started to see the light, and they are realizing that you really don't have to upgrade every six months, or ever at all, for that matter. I haven't upgraded anything in years, and I save a bundle that way. > ... the problem I have is, if I can't understand how > much it's going to cost me just to write an app on .NET, > how the heck can I build a business app on it? You can't. Even if you understand how much it's going to cost, it may be too much for the project to be cost-effective for you. The alternative is to write applications that are not .NET-enabled. Or course, if too many people do that, .NET goes nowhere. I don't know how aware Microsoft is of this. If you want everyone to put .NET features in software, it's best to offer the tools to do it for free. Even then, some developers might find it more trouble than it is worth. > She didn't realize I wasn't making a joke. She will, eventually.
