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Message from discussion Software upgrades: More harm than good
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SUSUPPLY  
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 More options Apr 9 2000, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: sci.econ
From: susup...@aol.com (SUSUPPLY)
Date: 2000/04/09
Subject: Re: Software upgrades: More harm than good
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Dan in Philly writes:
>As I mentioned in the first post, once people get an upgrade, they almost
>never
>save files in an earlier version.

Unless they have a reason to do so.  Such as having their writings included in
a book compiled by a person who doesn't have Word 2000.  Isn't this just a
matter of comparing elasticities of demand (i.e. pretty standard economic
analysis)?

>  Perhaps they're angry that others haven't
>forked out several hundred dollars as well.  Perhaps they hate the
>"formatting
>may be lost" message and insist that others see their little animated
>doohickeys on a document, to confirm their creative genius.

I have to confess little insight into the psychology of the academic.  But why
is that Microsoft's fault?

>Also, since I use WordPerfect 7.1, I'm quite experienced with converting
>between new Word, old Word, and WordPerfect.  And it doesn't work well.
>Weird
>tab settings appear for no reason; "section break" lines abound; unusual
>characters (like the british pound) change.

Again, why is that Microsoft's fault?  You're complaining about WordPerfect
above.

>I still maintain there is a negative externality: if 99% of computer users
>only
>need basic stuff, then forcing them to upgrade is a waste of money.  

>Dan
>in Philly

No one is forcing you to do anything.  You have concluded that costs are
outweighed by the benefits, so you upgrade.

It seems to me that you are on pretty thin ice with your concept of
externality.  Was it a negative externality when the word processor replaced
typewritten documents?  When DOS was replaced by Windows?

What improvement in ANY technology would not be a negative externality under
your concept?  What action of any kind would not be an externality, for that
matter (if Ann Coulter marries someone other than me, I'll be devastated.
Should I be able to call the anti-trust dept out on her?).

Patrick


 
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