LEM Home Page, iBook & PowerBook Page, iMac Channel, Power Mac Page, Mac Daniel's Upgrade Advice, MacUSB, My First Mac, My Turn, Online Tech Journal, Road Apples, 56k Page Editorials DeStefano: Mac Metamorphosis, Guha: Apple Archive, Knight: Mac Musings, Moore: Miscellaneous Ramblings, Ploudre: Back & Forth, Rodrigues: Tangerine Fusion, Rumsey: Low End Mac Gaming, Taylor: Mac to the Future, Van Esch: Mac Scope
	Other World Computing: 9.1GB Apple ROM SCSIs only $175.00, Sonnet G3 starting at $126.50, G3/400mhz only $197! Check Out These Deals and More at OWC! Only $5 for FedEx delivery too. Click Here! Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities for Macintosh: Protect your Mac from viruses and repair disk problems quickly and easily with our award winning products. Click for a FREE download of Norton Antivirus! Save $49,000? Stephen Van Esch May 22, 2000 What happened to $49,000? I'm at a loss. Last Monday Apple announced a price cut for a popular web software package. That in itself is not unusual. Software companies routinely drop prices on software. Nor is it surprising that Apple dropped the price to extend its presence in the web server market. What is pretty surprising is that the price drop is $49,000, give or take a few hundred dollars. If the original package had retailed for $150,000, I might not raise an eyebrow. But considering the fact that the software retailed for $50,000, a $49,000 price drop is pretty substantial. Of course were talking about WebObjects here, and this kind of price drop begs a few questions. Who set the original price? Someone seems to have made a major goof here. Maybe there's a decimal out of place or something? Maybe a dart board in the marketing room? What could possibly lead Apple to justify a $50,000 price to begin with? Granted, the price may have been fair, but a price drop of $49,000 makes me wonder if it was worth $50,000 in the first place. Who set the new price? Looking at the new price and the old price, I can't really understand how they settled on $699. Why not $30,000? Or $15,000? Or even $5,000. If people bought it at $50,000, they'll really go for it at $5,000. The pricing model seems to be fairly arbitrary. What about recent customers? I'm sure that there's some poor guy or gal out there who bought WebObjects two weeks ago at the full price of $50,000. Will Apple give these poor souls a break, like maybe deliver a brand new Mustang to their door? They'd still be $25,000 ahead of the game if they did that, right? And what great PR! Is Apple now losing money on WebObjects? Let's be serious for a moment. If $50,000 was a fair price for WebObjects, Apple is taking a very serious loss here. How can it justify this loss? They may want to gain market share but does a loss of this magnitude justify the goal they are trying to achieve? If they are not taking a huge loss on this software package then it's clear that the software was not fairly priced to begin with. Is it appropriate for Apple to set such a price on a software product? Is it fair for Apple to take early adopters for a ride and then implement a huge price drop? Which is it, a huge loss or an unfair price? I'd sure like to know. <this article available in a printer-friendly format> Biography Steve Van Esch is a regular contributor at osOpinion and runs The Text Pound, a small corner of the Web that tries to find a place for homeless or abandoned articles. Steve loves the Mac and is bilingual, since he's also fluent in Windows and French. Recently on Mac Scope Be thankful for Apple secrecy, 8/16/00. There really is a good side to Apple secrecy. Mac users, the only true computer enthusiasts, 8/9/00. We buy Macs for looks and performance, not just a powerful engine. Berst misses the boat again, 8/2/00. ZDNet's Jesse Berst just doesn't get Apple -- he thinks all is lost because Jobs hasn't unveiled a PDA or phone. Macworld: Looking on with Envy, 7/17/00. We all wish we could go to Macworld Expo -- but not this year for Van Esch. more articles on the Mac Scope index page Elsewhere on Low End Mac Building rumors, fooling Slashdot, Anne Onymus with Dan Knight, 8/18. We didn't set out to fool Slashdot or anyone else -- and we explain how to build your own rumors. Don't upgrade that Quadra 630, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive, 8/18. Most upgrades for this particular model just don't make economic sense. Browse different, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 8/18. One way browsers could improve the Web surfing experience. Mac-N-DOS list. Yes, it's a bad pun, but if you have to use both Macs and Windows, this new list could be a great resource. New iMacs: Something for everyone, Kel Taylor, Mac to the Future, 8/17. "...the iMac has grown into a family, and a large one at that." Apple ditching G4, Anne Onymus, 8/17. Apple embraces IBM and the G5, leaving Motorola behind. Happy Birthday, iMac!, Dan Knight, iMac Channel, 8/16. "The iMac has redefined the industry and redefined Apple as a trendsetter." The Land Before Silicon, Manuel Mejia, Mac Daniel, 8/16. Travels in Russia with a PowerBook 100. The G4 Cube and Radeon fans, Paulo Rodrigues, Tangerine Fusion, 8/16. How ATI spilled a trade secret. Oops. My First Mac Clone, Spencer, My First Mac, 8/15. Sometimes your first Mac isn't even made by Apple. New @ Low End Mac: Receive email information on new articles. Mac Scope ©2000 by Stephen Van Esch. Low End Mac established April 7, 1997. This page, the entire Low End Mac site, and all subsites of <lowendmac.com> copyright ©1997-2000 by Dan Knight unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. LINK POLICY: This site allows and encourages links to any public page, so long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked page. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Computer, Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iMac, and iBook are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are hereby acknowledged. LinkExchange Member	Select content available in AvantGo format for Palm, WinCE users. Mac of the Week Mac IIfx Lists of the Week Apple2list. LisaList Channels - Power Macs - iMac Channel - iBook/PowerBook Computer Profiles - iMac - Power Mac - PowerBook/iBook - Performas - Mac Clones - Older Macs - Lisa Editorials Email Lists Consumer - advice, reviews - guides, deals Software Apple History Best of the Web Miscellaneous Links About Low End Mac Receive our daily newsletter Search Low End Mac Search the Web Support LEM MacMall Outpost.com Software Outlet Amazon.com Mac Book Source MobShop.com DVD Express CoolVCD.com MusicForce AuctionMac Sponsor LEM