Alan Yeo writes:
>I like to think that the tier pricing we currently use is "fair".

I think most of us understand the reason for tiered pricing, and are not too
bothered by it, in concept.  The displeasure arises from the fact that some
notorious vendors use tiered pricing to extract inappropriately huge sums
from their customers.  I have been in the situation of upgrading from a
large system, say a 997-600 with unlimited user license, to a somewhat
larger system (997-800), and having to pay tens of kilobucks to upgrade
software for which we already paid a high price.  This is the extortion Wirt
refers to:  The vendor knows you are heavily invested in the product and
can't afford to abandon it on short notice.  They use that situation to get
you to pay much more than any "small system discount" you may have received
in the past.

Face it, some businesses regard their customers as those who keep them in
business, and therefore treat them with appreciation and respect.  Others
regard them as opportunities to satisfy their greed, and look for any chance
to squeeze them.  This is certainly something to consider when choosing a
software vendor.  When considering software, ask the sales person how many
pricing tiers the company uses.  If the number is significantly larger that
the number of tiers HP has, beware!

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