Recent MSDN Survey Question raises warning bells
- I recently received a MSDN survey questionnaire that sent alarm bells running through my head.
I have a problem with the following question:“What is the minimum price difference between a subscription with DVD shipments and one without DVD shipments that would cause you to switch to a subscription without DVDs?”
There is no option to suggest: Microsoft should not charge extra for DVD based subscription. They should make the non-DVD based subscriptions cheaper.
The option should be: I would move to non-DVD subscription if the cost is lower by “XXX” dollars.
All the provided options were "I would stop DVDs if they cost US$xxx more/year". Why is Microsoft trying to increase costs… they have always provided CDs and DVDs. If they want to lower their cost and move subscribers to the download version, then they should make the non-DVD subscriptions cheaper than the current DVD version cost.
Infact this questainnare is targeted to find out how much more Microsoft can charge me if I do not shift to the non-DVD version.
Has anyone else received this questionnaire. I have put forth my thoughts above.. I would like to understand what other MSDN subscribers are thinking.
Vipin
All Replies
- I've been both an MSDN and Technet subscribers for years. To be frank, the number of CDs/DVDs I've thrown away over the years has niggled me a bit, so personally, I much prefer the download-only option. Now at one time, downloads were pretty slow, but of late, I max out my download pipe (4mbps). Given the costs involved in pressing packing and shipping the discs, I'd certainly expect to see the costs of the DVD/CD version a lot higher than download only. As a zero price difference, there is no incentive to go green-er, but with a discount, the incentive is there.
My .02€ worth!
Thomas Lee
