From: John <nojgoalbyspam@...>
Date: 2002-08-11T02:26:52+09:00
Subject: Re: Dr. Dobbs Ruby Article

"Gavin Sinclair" <gsinclair@soyabean.com.au> wrote in message
news:009401c24056$aab24490$256332d2@nosedog...
> 5USD!?!?  Are you KIDDING!??  For ONE article!?
>
> It probably costs 5USD to buy the magazine at the newsagent!
>
> And it costs 60USD to buy a CD containing every article since 1988!
>
> Gavin
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven G." <smalllinux@netscape.net>
> Newsgroups: comp.lang.ruby
> To: "ruby-talk ML" <ruby-talk@ruby-lang.org>
> Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 4:04 AM
> Subject: Re: Dr. Dobbs Ruby Article
>
>
> > It costs 5 USD to purchase the article, online. It will let Dr. Dobbs
> > know that people are interested in Ruby if some people choose to
> > purchase.
> >
> > Steven G.
> > http://linudent.sourceforge.net/
> >
> > <bias>
> > I am paid for some editing by Dr. Dobbs.
> > </bias>
> >
> > "Gavin Sinclair" <gsinclair@soyabean.com.au> wrote in message
> news:<58420.203.185.214.34.1028868970.squirrel@webmail.imagineis.com>...
> > > Hmmm... the article itself can't be read online, it seems.  The source
> > > code in the article is available though.
> > >
> > > --Gavin
> > >
> > > It can be found here: http://www.ddj.com/articles/2002/0209/
> > > >>>
> > > >>> > The September issue of Dr Dobbs has an article by Phil Tomson on
> > >  distributed Ruby using dRb.  Well done, Phil.
>
>

It does seem a lot.  I think I would fork out 1USD for the article without
thinking about it.  That is not indicitive of the value of that article
itself, just my perceived value within the space of a $6USD magazine.

The problem arises though in that DDJ generally has a whole bunch of
articles using different languages centered around a single theme.  Most
people would only be interested in a single article.  If they started making
it reasonable for purchasing only what you wanted, they might start losing
money.  Its much like getting 100 channels of cable vs. just the programs
you watch.  Also remember that they get a lot of money from advertising.

You may also consider that in 6 months the magazine will be hard to get.
For something you really need, 5USD may then seem reasonable.

I don't necessarily agree with it, although I do like the magazine.  I would
prefer a model like the IEEE where you pay for a digital subscription and
get every article ever written while you pay for it.

John.