From rssfeeds@jmason.org Thu Sep 26 16:34:00 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.spamassassin.taint.org Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by jmason.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9EB5216F16 for ; Thu, 26 Sep 2002 16:33:58 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Thu, 26 Sep 2002 16:33:58 +0100 (IST) Received: from dogma.slashnull.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8QFSNg24418 for ; Thu, 26 Sep 2002 16:28:23 +0100 Message-Id: <200209261528.g8QFSNg24418@dogma.slashnull.org> To: yyyy@spamassassin.taint.org From: joelonsoftware Subject: Eddie Kessler describes programming at Napster. Ray Ozzie has more on pla Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 15:28:22 -0000 Content-Type: text/plain; encoding=utf-8 URL: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/news/20020925.html Date: Not supplied Eddie Kessler describes programming at Napster[1]. Ray Ozzie has more on platforms[2]. "Finding the 'right' price point for a software platform is critical." To me this sounds like a fancy way of saying, "I groove all that stuff about how platforms need to be cheap and ubiquitous, but I can't bring myself to do it." The price, Ray says, "must be high enough both 1) to maintain a perception of value in the platform, and 2) to create significant margins well before ubiquity is assured so that the ecosystem is assured of the platform's ultimate viability." What he doesn't mention: if you lower the price on the only product you're selling, you have a revenue hit, which will not make your investors happy, and you may run out of money and have to close. But that must be what he's thinking. [1] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/WorstProjectEver.html [2] http://www.ozzie.net/blog/stories/2002/09/24/softwarePlatformDynamics.html