> From: Paul Guyot <pguyot_at_kallisys.net>
>
>
...
> About the revenue. For this project (and for any other Newton
> project), I don't think that the shareware or whatever revenue we can
> get (including some models you suggested) would cover the actual
> cost. I know I already said this, but if I wanted to make money, I
> wouldn't write programs for NewtonOS. I'm sorry to say it, but I
> think this is true for any shareware author, on whatever platform.
>
> And fortunately, I don't have any (well, not many rather) bills to
> pay. It would be great if I could get new hardware with these
> revenues, but that's all (Robert keeps me an eMate just for that
> purpose). I had some hardware cost I wish I could cover (to repair
> the two MP2100s I killed and for the CF card, but that's all). And in
> the case where I really need money (for the moment, I'm looking for a
> way to do a PhD in one of the top four US universities for CS),
> shareware revenue will of course not cover it.
>
> Anyway, I think that everyone who is still making money out of Newton
> software (I'm thinking about Steve Weyer and John Del Pizzo) will
> agree with that analysis....
I do get occasional registrations for Newt's Cape (and NewtDevEnv),
which cumulatively provide enough funds for system upgrades/replacements.
I agree that it's not enough to live on, and certainly not enough to
compensate me for my time/energy. During the Newton's heyday, it was
possible to make significant money even via shareware (Ben Gottlieb, Hardy
Macia,...), (and of course there were vertical project and commercial
packages too) but I don't see that as likely these days, even with the
wonderful stuff you, I and others continue to create. ;-)
Although money is a nice recognition, my main motivation these days is some
combination of
1) what's fun to implement (technical thrill)
2) other developers I'd enjoy working/learning with (e.g.,Sean,Paul @ Waba);
3) enthusiastic reactions/appreciation from users (e.g., Newt's Cape, VNC);
4) what might be reusable elsewhere (that's a major reason for my interest
in Waba, since it or some other Java subset would likely get me interested
in a new PDA);
5) perhaps some consulting/contract projects (mostly likely for other
platforms) leading from these development demonstrations (live resume)
[Kinda reminiscent of a worship service entitled "The Benign Hacker Culture:
Promoting Free and Open Access to Information" that I participated in 2
months ago at our UU church; our "sacred text" was "The Hacker Ethic and the
Spirit of the Information Age" by Pekka Himanen]
-- Steve weyer_at_kagi.com Newton apps/tools: Newt's Cape, NewtDevEnv, Sloup, Crypto,... http://www.kagi.com/weyer/-- This is the Newtontalk mailinglist - http://www.newtontalk.net To unsubscribe or manage: visit the above link or mailto:newtontalk-request_at_newtontalk.net?Subject=unsubscribe
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Thu Nov 01 2001 - 10:02:24 EST