On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:58:43 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>> There's a value proposition that has to be offset.
> 
> I have no idea what this accounting jargon means.

Which is amazing, because I'm not an accountant.

Stuff costs money.  In order to afford stuff, you have to have money.

Same principle for a business - if they want to build something, they 
have to figure out how to pay for it.  When they figure out how to pay 
for it, they have to look at what it costs and see if they can offset the 
cost with revenue.

>>> You would *think* making MathReader free would benefit Wolfram, but
>>> apparently not...
>> 
>> It depends on the business analysis.  Wolfram might well have concluded
>> that not enough people need the reader to make it worthwhile, or that
>> the number of people paying for the creation software wouldn't offset
>> the development costs.
> 
> I should point out that MathReader is simply Mathematica with a few
> features turned off. The "development costs" should be minimal. (They
> probably spend more on testing it to make sure the requisit features
> really are switched off...) But sure, it's a cost analysis.

Part of that cost analysis, then, is what amount of revenue is likely to 
be lost when (not if) someone figures out how to unlock the full product 
features and posts it on the Internet.  If it truly is Mathematica with a 
few features turned off.

> (Actually MathReader *is* free - it's just that you have to jump through
> hoops to get at it. But it doesn't cost any actual money, no.)

The hoops probably (I haven't looked) involve you giving them something 
of value - like your contact information so they can market to you.  
See?  You pay something, just because it isn't money, doesn't mean what 
you offer them in exchange has no value.

Jim

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