I think this pricing is not very clever strategy. Filmscanner sales are on the rise and I would bet that Silverfast is much better than any of the software packages that come with it. So, every buyer of a filmscanner would be in the market for better software. However with these prices, most will shy away. I'm willing to bet that if you'd lower the price, you'd sell an substantial lot more products.
Sharcy - once you get over the initial sticker shock, you will realize how much development has gone into this package, and how much time and money it will save you, especially this new version. Personally, I save 10-20 hours of work in Photoshop every month at minimum by being able to do 95% of the work in Silverfast.
Now considering that I paid $1200 for my scanner, and you paid around $500, it's probably easier for me to justify spending this kind of money, and of course, they probably would sell more units if it was less. However, we're talking about an independent software company here, not Walmart or something. It's not as simple as saying let's just drop the price. There are many factors which go into the pricing, not the least of which is development time, and since it's been in development for almost 15 years, and this new version alone adds many incredible new features it's easy to see why it would cost more. Someone has to pay for all of those developer's and programmer's paychecks.
As it is now, I won't hesitate to use a crack if I come across one, sorry.
That's the wrong attitude - I suppose if someone didn't want to pay for one of your photos (assuming you sell them) that you'd just advise that person to steal them? These people have worked long and hard for years to bring us this software.
Also, have you ever thought that it's people like you that raise the cost of software? If less people stole software, companies like Lasersoft and Adobe could cut their prices substantially.
I for one would consider something like 60, 70 Euro's a decent price for software like this. Anything above a 100 I would never pay for a product that'll be obsolete in a couple of months anyway, especially since you charge for updates. Hell, I wouldn't even be here if there was a v**s**n version for my scanner!
We all wish that Silverfast was this price - but if you want the best, you have to pay for it. This software is intended to be used by professionals, and to us it's worth it. The majority of us have spent several thousand dollars/Euros on our equipment alone, not to mention several thousand more on PhotoShop, etc. so in the long run, it's not much to pay for something that will give us the best quality in the shortest amount of time.
I hear v**s**n is a good package as well, but obviously it has nowhere near the features, support, or code-quality of this new version of Silverfast.
I don't blame you for wanting to make a buck... you'd be stupid not to. I'm just saying you can make at least twice as much if you'd lower the price to an affordable level.
It sounds like you do blame them for wanting to make a buck. If you're serious about wanting them to lower the price, it would help not to tell them that they are wrong, threaten to steal their software, and then tell them that you're only here because they're competitor doesn't support your scanner.
That's not how you get people to listen to you.
-Ian A.
. And photography is an expensive enough hobby as it is.