> As you're no doubt aware, NI no longer offer their customers phone > support, unless we sign up to their new software subscription service. > If I remove support from the equation it appears that we're being stung > for an extra 50% on cost just so that we can buy software from the UK. > This doesn't sound like great value for money to me! > > I'd gladly buy the software online at the prevailing US dollar rate and > download it. Lots of vendors sell software this way, and I'd like to > think that NI will follow their lead one day, but while they can milk us > for the extra 50% I don't see a huge incentive for them to do so! >
The change to support is a recent one, and that is something that may further equalize the prices -- I don't really know. But when you say lots of vendors sell out of the US, I'm not sure the comparison is a good one. There are some products consumers are willing to buy straight off the web, and others they aren't. Pure SW products are more likely to fall into the first category, though it is nice to be able to call someone and ask questions, in your native language and timezone. Start adding HW to the system, and the questions are even more likely to be needed, and perhaps even a sales call is in order. Before NI had its own sales force in Europe and Asia, it sold the products through vendors and resellers. These people also needed a profit in order to stay in business. Perhaps they could negotiate a discount from NI once they reached volume, but again, if people are involved, they need to be paid. So, for the short description, it is to offset the cost of doing business in the EU and UK. More specifically, if you have ever gotten benefit from a member of the UK sales or support staff, that is how they were paid. And yes, perhaps it is outdated and will change, and then we can all complain that the pendulum has swung the other way and "in the good old days, you could call up and talk to a person...". Anyway, as I said in my other post, I'm more involved in making it, not selling it. I can give you the explanation I know, and if you want better, you'd should directly ask the sales department. Afterall, that is how these policies get modified. Greg McKaskle
