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RANT: High Software Prices!
zridling:
Jeff, I think the reason I'll never own Photoshop is that, no matter how fast your system is, Photoshop is guaranteed to bring it to a crawl!
JeffK:
My dream is to visit that rotten country of yours. I would like to go from one coast to the other by road or short rail trips, with emaphasis on the historical sites in the East and Indian country and the spacious rural places. And maybe one or two big cities like NY and LA. My wife and I have had our progress slowed as she is battling cancer but before that her dream was Western Canada and Alaska and mine was UK. But the more I read the more I think I would love to visit the US.
So you have to keep the oil prices down until I get there (and the US/AU currency exchange rate too).
I might buy some cheap software while I am there.
Renegade:
Very interesting conversation. I wish I had more time... Anyways...
-- WARNING -- BAD WORD FILTER TEST TO FOLLOW --
For the capitalist "let's push it up as much as possible"... Fuck that. That's just being greedy. I sell software and I could push my prices up if I wanted to and people would still buy it. I am not a greedy bastard. There's no reason to screw people out of money. If the price is fair, then it's fair, but the whole "let's fuck people for as much as we can" thing pisses me off. "Market forces?" Bah! "Market pressures?" Bah!
I think that to some degree it is correct, but that doesn't excuse pure greed.
I once gave a guy a partial refund as he was hard up for cash but wanted my software. Is that bad? Hell no! He loves my software and I've treated him very well. He'll tell people. You can't buy "decency".
There are some segments in software that make me want to puke. Honesty and decency are lost in business all too often. It's unfortunate that the business thing has to ruin it for consumers.
Got to get going... Would love to participate more here - as usual...
zridling:
JeffK, you won't be able to travel by rail very much, as our passenger trains here are almost a thing of the past. Start in Atlantic Canada and head west and south down the coast. My best advice would be to travel the 'Blue Highways;' that is, the "state" roads rather than the interstate system. You'll see more, eat better, enjoy yourself. Hit New York City for sure; drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, but skip Washington DC (it's really a bore, and everything closes early); Route 66 starts in Chicago (where you can see a Cub baseball game!) and runs through the town where I work in the Missouri (you'll want to eat BarBQ in Missouri!) Ozarks, and head north from Kansas City to the Badlands in South Dakota. From there, you can go north across the Border and head across the Canadian Rockies on the way toward Vancouver. You won't go wrong if you just get off the highways — that's where the real America is found.
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Renegade, my question is simply: if this version of Photoshop goes up 33%, what will the next bring? As for Windows, how many more EULA restrictions can they conceive? It's like the RIAA — if you think everyone is ripping you off, then just wait, they're going to start just out of spite.
Carol Haynes:
[Carol]: Always makes me laugh when I hear Americans whinge on about expensive gas - simple solution get rid of the 6 litre V8 4x4 SUV and buy a 50cc motorbike - or even better a pushbike ... that'll get you fit too!
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— Most Americans don't live in big cities, and most of us commute long distances/times to work.
-zridling (April 18, 2007, 01:20 AM)
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That's true of most people world wide - it is only countries like the UK that have the majority living in cities and that's partly a legacy of the industrial revolution and partly because there is almost no land left and what is left can't be built on.
— After WWII, we built all our cities, nay suburbs, for driving "to," not for living "in." (Yes, yes, it's true idiocracy. You should live here!)
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LOL - no arguments here - but it is also getting a bit that way in the UK. People seem unable to take the kids 100 yeards to school without jumping into a 4x4
— Driving small vehicles and bikes on interstates is illegal.
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Is here too - but I would say the average car in the UK is probably more fuel efficient and smaller than what you see on US roads - and most of that is down to fuel costs and differential taxing.
— Lots of people ditched those 4-wheel drive SUVs (seems I see only the handicapped hopping in and out of them anymore).
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Surprised by that comment - I thought SUVs and all-terrain were the biggest growth area in the US for vehicle manufacturers! Are they all sitting on the forecourts?
— Most self-employed people here buy trucks in order to run their small business.
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Don't know so much about the US but Canada has a huge number of trucks - and you never, ever see anything in the back of them. They seem to be a choice of transport for the odd hunting trip when you need to get that moose home. They certainly aren't fuel efficient and cheap to run. If people want to transport stuff for work the old Ford Escort vans would be a hell of a lot cheaper to run - but not nearly as cool!
— Riding a bike 25 miles to work in the mornings on inner-belt freeways is not an option.
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Sadly no longer here either - in the past I travelled 25 miles to work - I used a pushbike at both ends (4 or 5 miles) and a train in the middle. Sadly I would probably not be able to do the 4 or 5 miles now without a near death experience and the trains don't let you take bikes any more. Mind you most tyrains in the UK aren't designed for passengers given that it is cinsiderably cheaper to drive a car with one person than take a train - even factoring in road pricing and ridiculous parking charges!
— Unlike civilized countries, we never invested in public transportation beyond New York City. And trains, what are those?
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We invented the trains and laid almost all of the track in the 19th century - now we probably have the worst trains in Europe (and probably the world). Unreliable, expensive, dirty and downright annoying. And the UK masterminded public transport but apart from the London tube system (which everyone complains about but is still pretty good IMHO) there is no proper public transport in the UK.
— Median US income is around $40k, but the USD is weak, we're taxed to death, and working people receive no benefit whatsoever for their taxes.
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I would guess (I don't have any evidence) that your median salary is about the same as ours but our cost of living is a lot higher and our taxes are a lot higher. At the moment the UK does get benefits for the taxes but they are getting a lot meaner and institutions like the health service are on their last legs - and the Tories would really like the super US approach to health (i.e. if your poor you can f**k off and die 'cos you didn't vote for us anyway).
— Our jobs suck and pay minimum wage. Meanwhile, we compete daily with illegal aliens from Mexico, whom companies like Wal-Mart hire in droves.
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Join the club most 'British' jobs are outsourced to India these days (try calling British Telecom with a phone fault and find out what the weather is like in Mumbay). We don't actually have a manufacturing industry any more - almost everything is imported from cheap labour economies. What jobs we do have are usually farmed out the Polish these days.!
— Finally, our cars suck. While the rest of the world drives Minis and BMWs, those vehicles are prohibitively priced (as is their insurance) here.
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No argument there - but you have a free economy (that was a joke by the way) - people should talk with their money and change things.
Due to the wife's career, I work in Missouri, but actually live in Chicago, a 7.5-hour drive. No train service. I'll go back and forth four times in the next 11 days. Otherwise, I'm the greeter at Wal-Mart. Every dollar counts, because once it's in my pocket, money finds a hole. So I wish it were as simple as you say! ;-)
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You have my sympathy - that must be miserable. I have commuted pretty much whenever I have worked - last time 4 hours a day of sitting in queues. However,I think the appalling state of the US economy is finally coming home to roost like reality has in the rest of the world. Welcome to the club!
End of ranting - I think if we continue this we should take it to PM unless other people want to wade in and put the world to rights ;)
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