“I didnt say so. Thay turned a profit. Not a huge profit.
a|w has been profitable for a long time.”
Good. Happy to see my fellow Torontonians thriving. Though I still have no idea how you know this since the article you pointed me too talk only about it’s parent company, SGI. Though, I did watch the videos of the announcement of the new pricing structure and the speaker was doing alot of bragging about how succesfull Alias was.
“And as to why.
Does the words capitalism and market economy have anny meaning to you?”
Sure.
“Doing their research and development in canada is cheeper.
The port of maya to osx was done in india for example.
Slashing prices has the posibility of getting them more revenue.
Doesnt allways work though.”
So, after years with offices in the US, they have finally caught on to the fact that it’s cheaper to do R&D in Canada? You think it’s all a fluke and the talk around the cg community stemming back from far before they closed the US offices about troubles at A|W and SGI have nothing to do with it?
Again, this article is about SGI and says nothing about A|W. And I think you should read the article again. It talks about “unexpected” profits, breaking even, selling off it’s Japanese subsidiary, cost cutting measures (including dumping 15% of their employees) etc… Sounds to me like they are happy to have turned a profit at all.
I guess my whole point is, they may have turned “a” profit. But the whole cg world has been talking about rough times for SGI and Alias over the last long while. And I doubt that things have been as smooth for them as you think.
The actuall employes on the maya mailing list says that a|w is profitable.
Do you think they are lying?
I cannot give you a link to it since it is a mailinglist.
Companies fire and relocate stuff and people all the time.
Dont read annything into it untill you have facts.
People talking doesnt mean shit untill you hear it from soneone who actually knows what he is talking about instead of just repeating a rumor.
Do you really think they would tell you if they “weren’t” profitable? And even if they would, how do you know that the employees you talked to are in a position to know who’s making what?
I think we all don’t have the facts. Your source is just as unreliable as mine.
You know, I frequent alot of high end audio stores (I can’t afford the stuff I just like to be around the stuff ) . Stores that carry the likes of Audiomat, 47 Labs, YBA, Basis, VPI, Krell and so on. They’ll all tell you they are doing just fine. Interestingly enough, the ones I figure aren’t really doing well, the ones that always seem to be empty, end up being the ones that disappear. It’s amazing, you would have thought that these owners would have known before I did that they were having troubles.
Nobody is going to tell you they aren’t doing well unless they are forced to. But people have been talking about SGI’s woes for quite some time now. And talk about possible problems at A|W preceeded, by quite a long time, the introduction of PLE and recent price drops.
If you really think an “employee” knows any more than the media you are fooling yourself. Management knows. But management wouldn’t tell “you” or “me” a damn thing either way.
I would also add that it’s highly unusual (improbable, even) for a company to simply slash the price 50% or more on their flagship product just because those running the company are nice guys. If the next version sells for the same price, I’d venture to say that something’s up. But…maybe it’s nothing more than Alias’s desire to move into a more volume-driven market, rather than the niche high-end market.
a| have been busting their ass trying to get into the game market for severall years now.
So far they havent succeded.
Its possible that they slash the prices becouse none of their current costumers havent upgraded and are still on 3.0 and will keep that version even when 4.5 comes out.
Simply becouse it doesnt have annything really new in it.
So. eather they sell no upgrades or they try to get into the game market imho
Well, there was alot of grumbling about the high prices of Alias. But XSI ain’t cheap either and Houdini is damn expensive too. They may be making a ton of money for all we know. Maybe they just want to make even more. Or maybe, since XSI has been catching up real fast, this is a way to protect their market share.
The only thing that I know is that it is becoming a far more reasonable prospect for anyone, including serious hobbyists and freelancers, to get their hands on the best tools. Instead of guys buying Lightwave or Max, you are going to see many of these individuals buying Maya. Prices of XSI should come down (or a new mini-XSI will be released). Discreet will have to do something because Max/Character Studio is like $4000. And frankly, I can’t see it being worth twice the price of Maya Complete.
It all should have a trickle down effect. I don’t see A:M being less than $300 but you may see some of the apps that were in between A:M and Lightwave drop in price.
That’s ridiculous. It’s all relative based on how important your hobby is too you and how much disposable income you have.
What gives you the right to decide if someone is a hobbyist or not based on “your” idea of how much a hobbyist would or would not spend?
If I spend $25,000 on an audio system for my home am I all of a sudden not simply a person who enjoys good music through a very good sound system? If I buy a $1000 Espresso machine does that preclude me from simply being someone who enjoys making and enjoying his own exceptional espresso?
Don’t be silly.
Just because if “you” spent $2000 on cg software you would have to be more than a “hobbyist” doesn’t mean that same equation applies to everyone else.
) . Stores that carry the likes of Audiomat, 47 Labs, YBA, Basis, VPI, Krell and so on. They’ll all tell you they are doing just fine. Interestingly enough, the ones I figure aren’t really doing well, the ones that always seem to be empty, end up being the ones that disappear. It’s amazing, you would have thought that these owners would have known before I did that they were having troubles.