I'm from Malaysia but I used to study in the US and I worked part-time while I was studying. I earned around USD 13/hour. Working full-time during the summer break, earned me close to USD 2k a month. I bought the original Blizzard's Diablo Battle Chest set for USD 50. Back in Malaysia, I got a job that paid RM 1.8k a month. The conversion rate is USD 1 = RM 3.8
Had I been in Malaysia all these while, do you think I would have bought the original game when it would cost me RM 190 (which is more than 1/10 my monthly paycheck) than to pay RM 5 per cd * 5 cd (in the Battle Chest set) = RM 25 for the game? Obviously I would buy the pirated version!
Now IF they scaled the prices according to the spending power of the countries at large, maybe I might buy the original.
Then again, lowering prices based on spending power might just kick back on itself causing a different trend in software piracy; distributing original games bought cheaper in China/Malaysia/wherever + shipping fees == cheaper than original games sold in US/UK.
In my company, I just play BOFH and tell everyone to use Mozilla, whether they like it or not. I just say "IE BAD, Outlook Express BAD. If you use them, don't expect me to fix your PC after that". And they listen to me, since they know that time loss == productivity loss == less profit.
Doesn't really justify the harsh comparison, IMHO. Every organization/governing body has its strong points and weak points, but idea of having a single governing body/organization controlling the internet is nothing less than a dictatorship. Quote: "One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison" (no idea who said it). I probably won't dig what UN want me to view, neither would I dig whatever China or USA or Russia or even my own country wants me to view either!
Funny how threads always seem to run off topic:P *points at parent*
Slashdot Mirror
I'm from Malaysia but I used to study in the US and I worked part-time while I was studying. I earned around USD 13/hour. Working full-time during the summer break, earned me close to USD 2k a month. I bought the original Blizzard's Diablo Battle Chest set for USD 50. Back in Malaysia, I got a job that paid RM 1.8k a month. The conversion rate is USD 1 = RM 3.8
Had I been in Malaysia all these while, do you think I would have bought the original game when it would cost me RM 190 (which is more than 1/10 my monthly paycheck) than to pay RM 5 per cd * 5 cd (in the Battle Chest set) = RM 25 for the game? Obviously I would buy the pirated version!
Now IF they scaled the prices according to the spending power of the countries at large, maybe I might buy the original.
Then again, lowering prices based on spending power might just kick back on itself causing a different trend in software piracy; distributing original games bought cheaper in China/Malaysia/wherever + shipping fees == cheaper than original games sold in US/UK.
So we're back to square one... *ponder*
In my company, I just play BOFH and tell everyone to use Mozilla, whether they like it or not. I just say "IE BAD, Outlook Express BAD. If you use them, don't expect me to fix your PC after that". And they listen to me, since they know that time loss == productivity loss == less profit.
1. Introduce email tax 2. "someone" writes email worm exploiting oopsie in outlook express 3. ??? 4. PROFIT!
#11 Simon the BOFH (.. who were jealous of my six figure salary and my five minute working day)
Doesn't really justify the harsh comparison, IMHO. Every organization/governing body has its strong points and weak points, but idea of having a single governing body/organization controlling the internet is nothing less than a dictatorship. Quote: "One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison" (no idea who said it). I probably won't dig what UN want me to view, neither would I dig whatever China or USA or Russia or even my own country wants me to view either! Funny how threads always seem to run off topic :P *points at parent*