Cost of upgrades

[shiphen]

Dear Xara

If I had upgraded to the top-of-the-range version of Xara with every single release since Xara Studio, about say 5 or 6 weeks after each new release, please can you tell me how much I would have paid?
My hunch is that this would by now be well over GBP 1,000 for a product that costs £249. Am I correct?

J

[pauland]

It could well be, but then again the value you would have had over that time would be priceless.

Thank you for pointing out what great value Xara has been for you.

[handrawn]

you have paid £249 for the product now, and the rest for the last 10 years [plus] usage of previous versions - like Paul I'd call that value

[gwpriester]

Your point is what exactly?

[mwenz]

Your point is what exactly?

I dunno. Maybe a new thread to post the same/similar rant in as the previous thread?

I shudder to think what my first versions of Ventura Publisher and Ventura Database Publisher and the upgrades cost me. I first bought them in 1989. If I recall (but I am certain I blocked out the awful memory) just Ventura Publisher was $900+ back then. I think the entire purchase (more than the above) from Xerox was north of $1600. Upgrades were each about $400 a pop for the two above. I upgraded VP through the Corel years as well. Geez, I really need to write to them and see what all those purchases and upgrades cost me for those years. Not to mention CorelDraw itself.

And Adobe products. And QuarkXpress (that recent upgrade was another $300 pop). And Serif products. And MS Office. QuickBooks. ...I am starting to get cold chills, a fever, and am puckering somewhere just adding it all up in the head. Geez, no I have a headache.

I chose to not upgrade XDP this year. As much in protest as not seeing the added value. But certainly not because of the cost to do so. Xara charges a reasonable amount that is not out of line compared to the full cost. Do I wish it were less cost? Of course. I also wish I win the lottery.

Mike

[shiphen]

I am starting to get cold chills, a fever, and am puckering somewhere just adding it all up in the head.

I too am getting cold chills a fever and am puckering...

I was thinking about this over-night and for me the worst offender has been MindJet's MindManager. I find it incredibly useful as a way of organizing your thoughts. Last time I looked nothing else had anything like such a good user interface for doing what it does with thought maps...

But every time you blink there is another upgrade for �150 (or similar) and the trouble is that it doesn't save me that amount of money. So rationally speaking I shouldn't upgrade. Perhaps ever.

The trouble is that it's rather depressing to keep spending hours and hours using a version of an application that is starting to get several years old. TBH, I dont really want to "invest" (my time) to such a large extent in something that is so old and out-of-date, when you know there are several much "better" versions (according to the company and probably the user community)

A significant part of the problem is bloatware. The software does all kind of things that I don't need to do, with e.g. plugins into different appliation and time-management tools that only half work in my experience. Mindjet never quite did what I really wanted to but nonetheless, call it humility regarding my own needs and working practices, but the sneaking suspicion is that at least some of those extra tools and features may turn out to be quite useful after all.

No, I don't do every upgrade but nonetheless like Mike I have found myself spending much more money on MindManager's software than I ever intended, it's just that if I'm honest, I have repeatedly put my head in the sand and not added it all up. Economic times are hard for me just now and such profligate spending on toys is no longer an option.

[pauland]

Shipen, if money is tight, forget about upgrades until things get better.

There's absolutely no point in fretting over money spent in the past. Concentrate on the future and use the tools you have to best effect.

When money is tight, then it's better that upgrades are as expensive as possible, because then you won't be tempted to buy them unless they really matter.

Put your energy into something positive instead of looking negatively at the world.

Things will get better.

[handrawn]

I am still on version 8 so two years running I have not updated.. the program does what I want it to do, and in the mean time I have discovered other ways of doing some things

and it it is not a one way street - there have been so many changes to the program over the years that some jobs are still better done in older versions, which with xara you can install at the same time...

[amoore]

I'm closing this thread because it's merely a continuation of a thread that's been closed. You've all made your points. It's time to move on.