The only thing I expect, if I'm paying $700 for a software package, is that it be worth $700. If I buy a $700 program, and it promptly saves me $750, I'm as happy as a clam.
You want software that gives you the best return on your time and your money, the software that lets you get things done. If we're talking about software you use all the time -- weblog software, writing tools, personal information assistants -- the acquisition cost is nearly irrelevant.
Professor Clump works at Miskatonic University. She earns $65,000/year, and the University pays about $70,000/year for her office, facilities, support staff, benefits, and perks. She spends about 30 minutes a day, writing her weblog. What does her weblog cost? About $12,000/year.
Tom Clump, boy scientist, thinks that's a silly way to compute this. 'If Mom didn't have tenure', he says, 'she'd be bagging groceries.' (Tom, having been grounded after his science experiment burned a hole in the bedroom floor, does not hold his Mom in high esteem at present.) 180 hours at the local Museum of Fruits and Vegetables will earn Tom, or his mother, about$1,375.
Read the whole thing - it's a great post.
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