Homer wrote:
> Verily I say unto thee, that Gordon spake thusly:
>
>> But it's ALWAYS been like that in UK. Doesn't matter what the
>> exchange rate, you can bet your bottom £ that MS software in UK is
>> the same number of £s as it is $ in USA....
>
> Prices rarely bear much relation to any intrinsic value, they are
> "demand" driven (ostensibly). In non-bullshit terms, this means
> consumers are charged as much as sellers think they can reasonably get
> away with, before we revolt and just stop buying.
>
> The upper limit on "reasonable" tends to disappear for certain things
> like cigarettes (addiction forces people to accept unreasonable prices)
> and petrol (people need to get to work, so it's not like they get to
> choose whether or not they buy fuel).
>
> I do remember reading an actual admission (regarding Windows prices) by
> some UK economist (in the Gruniad maybe?) that the Brits are far more
> tolerant of high prices (we'll moan about it, but pay anyway) than in
> other countries, which is (apparently) the primary reason for this:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip-Off_Britain
>
> Although that article makes no mention of our supposed tolerance.
>
I actually emailed MS to complain about the huge difference in price
between Vista in US and Vista in UK. (When it was launched here, the
exchange rate was almost 2$ to a £ and yet UK Vista was STILL almost
double the cost in USA). They gave me some completely CRAP explanation,
that included "average GDP per Capita"!!!!!!!! As a recently retired
Management Accountant, that has worked in some very large corporations
in the UK I have NEVER, EVER, in 25 YEARS, seen "average GDP per capita"
used in ANY selling price calculation.....
Extraordinary.
I replied asking them how they used this in their pricing and of course,
got no reply.
And in addition of course the CD/DVDs are pressed in Ireland so there's
no trans-Atlantic shipping charge either.
--
Registered Linux User no 240308
Say No to OOXML http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8
gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk
to email me remove the obvious!
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