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From: [e-mail] (Jamie Krutz) ()
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: RE: Sparks for Intel!
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First let me say, please use whatever computer you want.
Now then...


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>
> > >>... the Amiga user who believes that the plug-ins should be made for
> > >>every platform LW works on.

I agree. Unless multiplatform support is a farce and we should
all be using this week's version of the Pentium...or is it one particular
Alpha brand that will be the one true way now? It's a bit confoozling.


> Would Amiga users be willing to PAY for these plug-ins though??

Where do you think this LW market came from?


> In other words, if a developer came out with a plug-in for the PC version
> of LightWave and charged $100 for it and then decided to release a copy
> of that same plug-in for the Amiga market, which probably has one tenth
> as many LW users as the PC market,

Upon what direct evidence to you base the conjecture that there are
10 people running LW on Intel clones for every one on Amigas right
now?

And if it's true that the Amiga has 10 percent of the LW market,
should that be dismissed?

And if 10 percent means 10x the price, should PhotoShop on the Mac
cost 10X PhotoShop under MSWindows?


> would Amiga users be willing to pay
> $1,000 to make it worth the developers time?  What if the plug-ins were
> only 2 or 3 times as much?

Why?

Is it that difficult to recompile an already designed plug-in for the _same
program_ that's already running on the various operating systems?
Something's a bit wrong with the whole multiplatform approach of LW
if that's true.

You know it's a pity that NEXTSTEP was not able to grab the position
NT and Unix are wrestling for. Under NEXTSTEP you can create one
"fat" application that will run over a network on all supported hardware
(which is, lessee, old NeXT boxes, Pentiums, Sparcs, HPs I think and
maybe Alphas). You'd only presumably have to create one plug-in to
work across all platforms. NEXTSTEP is cool, although it doesn't have
the marketing and pricing features of NT, but I digress (and NT has its
strong points but you have to recompile for each supported platform).


> The huge number of PC users out there is the reason that developers can
> sell hardware/software so cheaply for the PC....

We're not talking hardware here. We're talking about a plug-in that's
already designed for the program in question.

And while there are a lot of people using Word Perfect or 1-2-3 on
everything from 8086 machines to Pentiums, the number of current
Intel clone _LW_ users is not directly related to the large number of
Intel machines that have sold over the years.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but is the point of supporting multiple
platforms one of finding out which sells the most and then dropping
support for the others like a rock? Or is it to allow people to use
multiple platforms as they wish so as to smoothly continue using
their favorite 3D program as technology continues to evolve, thus
keeping customer loyalty and dollars?

I am more enthusiastic about LightWave as a true multiplatform
tool than as a tool fragmented across platforms. That opinion applies
not only to plug-ins, but to the capabilities of LightWave itself as
I've said here before. If I can't network new machines, whatever
they may be, and have them work with my existing Amigas, then
LightWave loses a major advantage when compared to other
choices in 3d software.

Because I use LightWave and have for a very long time, continued
LightWave Amiga support still means a lot to me even when I
consider adding other platforms. Smooth integration between
platforms brings me along. Token integration makes me less thrilled
and less excited about continued investment. Take that as another
bottom line perspective in reaction to the bottom line fever used so
successfully to sell MSDOS and Intel clones to starry eyed developers.


> and the dwindling number
> of (buying) Amiga users is why prices are skyrocketing for the Amiga.

What prices are those?

LightWave does not cost more for the Amiga. And if you buy it with the
Toaster upgrade it costs less. Other programs being ported from the
Amiga to other platforms seem to be costing more than on the Amiga,
generally.

At any rate, I agree with Joe's statement and I thank you for your
work running the list. Enjoy your Alpha when you get it up and
running with LW! :^)

Best Regards,
 -Jamie


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