Number 216 - May 2001

It's All Academic (Software)
by Herbert Wong, Jr. - NOCCC Director OCUG@SingularityTechnology.com, Dec 2000
Warning! Anyone interested in saving a lot of money when buying software must read this!     The common misconception is that it is getting cheaper to own a computer. Hardware is constantly improving in performance for the same price. However, software is just as expensive as ever. What's Academic Software?     Software manufacturers know that most people will always prefer the application that they initially learned. I know there are a lot of people who still pine for the days of WordStar. So, the best audience for manufacturers to target would be students. They are more receptive to advertising, more influential, and, eventually, will become more affluent.     In an effort to lock in potential customers for life, many software manufacturers offer steep discounts to students. Academic software packages can be purchased in one of three common formats. They can be: identical to normal retail versions, software only (no printed manuals; electronic manuals only), or a subset of the current retail version. Do your research carefully. Some applications don't require printed manuals for full functionality. However, some applications such as Corel Draw! benefit immensely from having books of printed clipart and font samples.     Hardware discounts are not substantial because there is little profit margin and insignificant customer loyalties are gained by exploiting reliance on hardware differentiation. You will, however, see Apple computers at major educational institution bookstores.     Don't think that only one or two companies offer such student discounts. I did a simple search for Academic Software and found products offered by: AbleSoft, Adobe, Alien Skin, Allaire, Artel, Astound, Auto Des Sys, AutoDesk, Avid, Caere, Cakewalk, Caligari, Cambridgesoft, Coda, Corel, Corex, Dataviz, Deneba, Diehl Graphsoft, Dragon, Equilibrium, Extensis, Filemaker, Final Draft, Inprise, ISI Researchsoft, Lotus, Macromedia, Mathsoft, Metrowerks, Micrografx, Microsoft, Minitab, Miramar, Music Software, Net Objects, Network Assoc., Newtek, PowerQuest, Prentice Hall, Red Hat, Soft Warehouse, Software Publish, Sonic Foundry, SPSS, Steinberg, Strata, Symantec, Synergy, Terran, Traveling Software, ULEAD, Waterloo Maple, Wolfram, and Xerox/Scansoft. Other options     Besides the outright sale of software packages, other arrangements can be made. Site licenses for schools and large businesses can allow students or employees to use the software on home computers, too. Read the fine print on your site license.     Students who are currently enrolled in the California State University system can rent certain Microsoft product CDs for five days for a twenty (to forty) dollar administrative fee and twenty-five (to fifty) dollar deposit. You are allowed to install the software for personal use as long as you are enrolled. The software that can be rented from CSULB can be found at http://www.csulb.edu/ aux/ bookstore/ Computer_Store/ Microsoft/ index.html. This particular Microsoft license can be found at http://msadmin.calstate.edu/.     Most Microsoft software will someday fail to run an important feature without supplementing a partial installation from the CDs. I didn't read the terms of the license, but I wouldn't install and use a Microsoft product without immediate access to the software CDs. You never know when you'll be bitten by the Insert installation disk now! demand. In preparation for dire emergencies, I often tape a copy of the operating	system CDs inside the computer case. And, be certain that the CD-key (serial number) is written down on it, too. What's the big deal?     I looked up a few Microsoft products and typical mail-order prices for the full version of each. They are: Windows Millennium Edition $180, Windows 2000 Professional $280, Windows 2000 Server $860, Windows 2000 Advanced Server $3400, Office 2000 Developer (Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage, PhotoDraw) $890, Visio 2000 Enterprise $950, Visual Studio Enterprise 6.0 (Visual Basic, C++, J++, FoxPro, InterDev, MSDN Library) $1359, SQL Server 2000 $1219, BackOffice Server 4.5 $2700, BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5 $2599, Exchange Server 2000 $1200, etc.     Let's say you want to tinker with a small range of software. Start with a base of Windows 2000 Pro ($280) and Office 2000 Developer ($890) for $1170. If you want to do a little programming, add Visual Studio Enterprise 6.0 for $1359 and SQL Server 2000 for $1219. That comes out to $3748. No developer could ever afford that!     As a huge price break for developers, Microsoft offers all of the products listed above (plus a few others that I probably have forgotten) in the MSDN (Microsoft Developer's Network) Universal Subscription (for one year) for $2130 by mail order (M.S.R.P. of $2500). That's almost reasonable! for Bill Gates!     Now suppose you are a student and look for an academic discount on this software. How much is it? Would $1500 be a bargain? How about $1000? Well, in a matter of a few minutes, I found an Internet price for a Microsoft MSDN Universal Subscription for $700 plus tax, shipping, and handling! That's much less than the cost of Windows and Office alone! That's almost reasonable!     The MSDN software package is updated quarterly by mail (and as needed per Microsoft). And, you'll get all of those nice upgrades when they ship (if it is within your year). It is licensed for developers. It is not supposed to be used in production environments (for the servers, secretary's word processor, etc.). As updates to my subscription, I'll get Windows Millennium, SQL Server 2000, and, I hope (but seriously doubt), Visual Studio 7 (with Visual Basic 7). Who qualifies?     Most academic software sellers, either on the Internet or brick-and-mortar, only require that the purchaser display a student ID with the current semester's sticker to qualify for these specially priced items. I haven't read the licensing agreements, but I suppose they could require current student registration paperwork. It would depend upon the individual seller. You too can be a student     Students are not just teenagers living in dormitories. Many adults take work-related extension classes at schools. If you are enrolled in any class, you will receive a student ID. Ergo, you can buy academic software.     A California state resident can enroll in a three-unit course, pay all fees (health, college services, photo ID, parking, etc.), and still pay less than $80. You'll learn something new and save a few hundred dollars on software at the same time. I know that you'll be so grateful to me that you will send ten percent of your savings to me as a consultant's fee!     You can contact me at OCUG@SingularityTechnology.com
Number 216 - May 2001