EnigmA Amiga Run 1997 July/EnigmA AMIGA RUN 20 (1997)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1997-07 & 08][EAR-CD IV].iso/lightwave/cgplwlist/cgplw07751-08038.txt/[e-mail]_Sat Jul 15 10:47:28 PDT 1995.msg

Text File | 1995-08-06 | 6KB | 114 lines

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From: [e-mail] (Walter J. Turberville (III))
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.packages.lightwave
Subject: Re: LW student pricing?
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 08:18:18 LOCAL
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In article <1995Jul11.225159@cantva> [e-mail] writes:
>From: [e-mail]
>Subject: Re: LW student pricing?
>Date: 11 Jul 95 22:51:59 +1200

>>>Good idea, since you havn't a hope in hell of getting a job these days without
>>>being vastly over-qualified, he should do the work.
>>
>> Hmmmm...then how is it that I've got three such jobs (yes, two are
>> part-time...for now), and all due in some way to my experience (a total of
>> 10 months, I believe) with Lightwave?

>As noted, you got your job through your experience, how does a student get
>experience when people already in the instrustry do everything they can to
>prevent students getting affordable copies?
>Perhaps it's the student's fault for not going to an expensive animation
>school.

>Go figure.

The following is a RANT!  You have been warned!
-----------------------------------------------

Hey - I'm fed up with this student pricing BS!  I'm very sure that "people
already in the industry" have much better things to do than to "do everything
they can to prevent students [from] getting affordable copies?"  For instance
- they produce video tapes that let others learn LW faster.  They
answer questions in this newsgroup.  They write articles that help
other people learn from their experiences and published them in magazines
like Video Toaster User and LWPro.  Yeah!  Its all ONE BIG CONSPIRACY to make
life rough on students and the non-pro.  These pros have built an almost
impenetratable fortress to keep those poor students from getting experience.
Gimme a break.

3D animated graphics has become SO much more accessible in the past couple of
years through the efforts of companies like NewTek and DPS that it really
irks me when I hear sob stories like this.  From everything I have read and
seen, you cannot find a more well-rounded package at a better price than
LightWave.  Even if you pay full list!  Wake up and smell the petunias.

What really stinks about all of this is the notion that students are
necessarilly poor and need the assistance.  Many are already being assisted by
families, state subsidised universities, federal student loans and grants and
scholarships.  Many, like myself, get educational benefits from their
employers.  I'm willing to bet that the average difference in price between my
automobile and the price of the average student's at the state universities in
Arizona (and probably any other state as well) is more than the cost of LW and
probably more than the cost of a Pentium PC that could run LW well.  Check the
parking lots some time.  The typical student isn't driving a VW "bug" anymore.
 Heck - many of the bikes that students ride approach and some excede the cost
of LW.

Sure - we all want a better deal.  I, for instance, want a better upgrade for
Toaster users.  But get a grip.  Its not a conspiracy.  I'd be willing to bet
that many of these "conspiring" professionals started with little money -
bought a Toaster on a tight budget, did schlock video work to get by or took
significant personal risks to make a go of it and finally succede.  I know
someone who quit his $40+k/year job of 17 years and turned down a $65k/year
job in New Jersey to pursue 3D animation on his own.  I may be quitting soon
as well.  A lot of life is about paying costs for what you want!

Students can get experience by doing the work.  I don't understand the gripe
if that means they have to buy the tools to learn with.  Don't they have to
pay for their "other" educational tools?  Doesn't NewTek offer discounts for
schools?  Maybe the problem isn't with NewTek or these "conspiring"
professionals, but in the student's choice of schools!

What about the TRULY poor young people who can't even afford to go to school?
Their situation is even worse.  Why don't they get a really deep discount?  I
bet some of them want to be animators too.  Well the reason is that student
discounts aren't really about helping people with less.  They are almost
entirely a marketing tool designed to help the company by opening up markets.
Truly poor people don't represent much of a market.  That is why there is no
"poor person" discount.

You don't have to like NewTek's discount policy, but don't think the world
is out to put the screws to the student either - and NewTek, BTW, is
offering the best deal around in professional 3D imaging tools.  They also
happen to need to make a profit to continue to do so and the desktop video
market is heating up while their primary platform (the Amiga) is on the skids.
So, they want money for their hard work and stay in business.

Go figure!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of RANT

I apologize for perpetuating this thread, but I do feel a little better now
for getting this off of my chest.



_________________________________________________________________
Walter (Jay) Turberville   |[e-mail]  [e-mail]
Phoenix, AZ                |http://www.primenet.com/~wturber
...........................|ftp.primenet.com/users/w/wturber