John Dammeyer made some real good comments.  I have one thing to add to his
"PS" paragraph:

  "I got this SOFTWARE UPGRADE from the discount office supply store and
fooled it into installing on my machine, because the upgrade is much
cheaper than the non-upgrade product."

This too is thievery.

>When we 'knowingly' buy a product made by $2.00 per day labour we support
>oppression.  IMHO, when we _support_ $25/hr for short term, professional,
>consulting when we all know the _real_ cost is far greater, we do the same.

True.  However, if I own the in-circuit emulator (I do) and compilers (I
do) and PC (I do) and make a full time living doing this (I do), and I'm
willing to work for $25 (nyet) and go out of business in a year (hopefully
not), then:

a)  I have gotten what I deserve by bad business practices, and
b)  They have gotten what they deserve - a product without support.

Who is the bigger loser?  The guy who made his $25 an hour or the company
that can't fix a problem in their gazillion pieces that they made?

Andy

==================================================================
Andy Kunz - Montana Design - 409 S 6th St - Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
          Hardware & Software for Industry & R/C Hobbies
        "Go fast, turn right, and keep the wet side down!"
==================================================================