While it is certainly possible I don't understand
what they mean by charging $10,000/year and $1,500/year
per .NET app ...
They mean to make money, I presume.
Microsoft has finally figured out what every software company is eventually
going to have to figure out: It's almost impossible to maintain impressive
growth rates by selling software with one-time license fees. Microsoft wants to
find a way to get paid _each month_, again and again, for as long as you use
their software. This arrangement has existed in the mainframe world since time
immemorial, but the PC world is only just now catching on. The problem is, this
set-up offers virtually no advantage to consumers, and they are used to paying
just once, so I don't know how well it will go over. Business customers have
less choice and can be coerced more reasily.
Unfortunately, I can't offer an easy alternative. Software has already bloated
into a monster that requires supercomputer horsepower just to boot and is never
more than 10% used by anyone, and this because it is necessary to endlessly
build "upgrades" in order to maintain a revenue stream, which in turn implies
adding features and functions that occupy more space and resources and serve
practically no purpose. .NET-style initiatives will eliminate this to a large
extent, but paying forever to use a software product isn't very appealing,
either.
The problem is that software never wears out, so a person who buys a product
with a one-time license can use it forever. Unlike a car or washing machine,
there is never any replacement business. Of course, if you can convince people
to buy new and fancier software, you can continue to make money; but in recent
years consumers have finally started to see the light, and they are realizing
that you really don't have to upgrade every six months, or ever at all, for that
matter. I haven't upgraded anything in years, and I save a bundle that way.
... the problem I have is, if I can't understand how
much it's going to cost me just to write an app on .NET,
how the heck can I build a business app on it?
You can't. Even if you understand how much it's going to cost, it may be too
much for the project to be cost-effective for you. The alternative is to write
applications that are not .NET-enabled. Or course, if too many people do that,
.NET goes nowhere. I don't know how aware Microsoft is of this.
If you want everyone to put .NET features in software, it's best to offer the
tools to do it for free. Even then, some developers might find it more trouble
than it is worth.
She didn't realize I wasn't making a joke.
She will, eventually.