Free and commercial OmniWeb.

[Michael Branton]

> 
>   First, many thanks to the good folks at Omni for their work.  As is, OmniWeb  
> is great and it would be even more so once searching and few other features are  
> implemented.
>   The hard question is how should we (the users) pay for it.  IMHO, the  
> two-version appoach (free demo version + full commercial version) is fine for  
> some software, but it is not suitable for the OmniWeb.  Straight shareware  
> would work much better, provided the price is not too high and the logistics
> of payment is workable for non-US users (e.g. credit cards).  Considering the  
> existence of inferior-but-free versions of WWW on the net,  I believe the price
> should be in the $20 to $30 (per copy) range, plus $5 to $10 for upgrades  
> beyond v1.0.  *In*addition*, Omni should charge for support -- if they have the  
> manpower to deliver it -- but please keep customer support separate from  
> upgrading & debugging the OmniWeb itself.
>   At the moment, I have OmniWeb running on two machines (one NeXTCube, one  
> i486).  I will gladly pay reasonable shareware price as soon as searching is  
> successfully implemented and general stability reaches beta+ level.
> *****************************************************************************
> Vadim S. Kaplunovsky,              | vadim at bolvan.ph.utexas.edu (NextMail OK)
> Assistant Professor of Physics,    | #include <std_disclaimer.h>
> University of Texas at Austin.     | #excuse bad_typing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
I agree with the pricing structure here, but I don't think it needs to be
shareware; you really should get paid :-). I agree that support should cost
extra.  I can't really justify $100/year. $50-$75 + $20 for upgrades +
extra for support would be fine. I particularly think support should be
pricey. After all, it's not information that is "mass-replicated" like 
software, and it's quite reasonable for net-denizens to support themselves.


Michael


mgb at thoth.stetson.edu