From chemistry-request@ccl.net Thu Jun 20 16:20:41 1991
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 12:37:05 PDT
From: crc@iris64.biosym.com (Clifford Randall Cannon)
To: chemistry@ccl.net
Subject: To Price or Not to Price?
Status: R

	 I can understand people being uncomfortable with prices being
	 mentioned, but let's remember too that we are all sensitive
	 to price, whether we are academic or commercial users.  The
	 second question (after "What can the software do?") is "How
	 much does it cost?", in nearly every case.  (The third ques-
	 tion is, "What discount can you give me?").  And we are all
	 busy.  A listed price often tells a reader at once whether
	 he/she should spend ANY time finding out more.

	 Again, I ask readers: if the announcement is SHORT (so you
	 can quickly ignore it if it doesn't interest you), truthful
	(obviously), and factually informative (not puffery or a knock
	 on a competitor), what's the harm?  Let's put our energy into
	 making useful things happen, not editing the information flow.