Re: Zend hit (Encoder price)

> > Unfortunately, it's not that simple. > > > > You haven't factored in Support costs nor administrative overhead nor... > > Well, I don't know what else the Marketing folks do when they figure these > > things out, but that's why I'm not in Marketing, eh? > > > Right it's not my game either (marketing), but perhaps Zend would be willing > to supply why the price is at $6,000. > As you said above , it doesn't just stop when I buy the encoder. Whose going > to do the encoding and continue doing the encoding > with continued releases etc? A graphic designer? A consultant? I have > listened to the arguments, 6000 is steep when you compare it with a download > from freshmeat. Writing a c-module is not *that* far away from writing some > of the more complicated php/perl/python scripts. > Indeed this is what furthers php. I would rather see Zend charging for > support contracts, rather than the actual product.... The Unlimited Encoder comes with "First-year software maintenance and support services free" as stated on http://www.zend.com/store/products/zend-encoder.php not 60 days, as mistakenly reported in various threads. The 60 days Support is for other Zend Products Now, we're not going to come over to your house and encode your files for you, not even for $6000 :-) So, if you like, you can think of a big chunk of that $6000 being for the year of Support, and then it may seem more reasonable. Also, I wouldn't expect a new version of PHP nor any Zend products to require you to re-encode all your files. There might be some exceptions, say if function parameters are altered or functions are deprecated, but not on a wholesale basis. Still, if the Freshmeat projects are more suitable for your needs and budget, by all means use them. I've heard no reviews of any encoder-like projects, though, so can't help you with the performance/reliability etc for those. Sorry. I'd be interested in any references to objective comparisons or reviews, however. -- Visit the Zend Store at http://www.zend.com/store/ Wanna help me out? Like Music? Buy a CD: http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm Volunteer a little time: http://chatmusic.com/volunteer.htm