This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz
by Jens E.
Original Post: RAD: Am I Missing Something?
Feed Title: MyEclipse Blog
Feed URL: http://www.jroller.com/myeclipseblog/feed/entries/rss
Feed Description: IDE/tools issues & comments
I have worked for Genuitec for just over two weeks. I‘m handling press relations, but my background is not in software, or anything technical really. So, as I arrive and begin working, the “office buzz” is centered around our new product release: MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition.
I have spent the last two weeks giving myself a crash course in everything software related. I must say, it's like learning a foreign language, and half of the words are three-letter acronyms. Honestly, it is a tad overwhelming. I'm sure many of you out there have wives, friends, girlfriends or siblings whose eyes glaze over when you start talking “techie.” Well, until about two weeks ago; those were my eyes glazing over.
But, over the course of two short weeks, and time passes much faster in the software world (you guys with your brilliant techie-minds must have found a way to mess with the clocks), I've gotten a slight grasp on the general framework of the industry. Very slight. I have researched MyEclipse Blue Edition and many comparable products like IBM's Rational Application Developer (RAD). The main difference, unless I am missing something, is the price point of each (RAD at over $4000, MyEclipse Blue at $149). They both appear to my untrained eyes to be effective toolsuites for WebSphere developers, but RAD is almost 30x the price.
Thirty times the price. Holy cow! That's a big gap. Let's use an analogy that makes sense to me: I can go to one store and buy a pair of shoes for $100, or I can go to a fancy department store and pay $3000 for shoes in the same style, made from the same kind of leather, produced in the same country and with the same quality. What's the incentive to pay 30x the price? The atmosphere of the fancy department store? The designer label? Feeling cool that I'm at the Galleria instead of the smaller mall nearer to my home?
I'm wondering aloud, and I welcome comments to point out any fallacies here. Does this analogy work? Or, is RAD 30x better? Since I don't use the products on a daily basis, it might help me if some of you out there can fill in the gaps. If they are comparable products, then why such a big price difference? There has to be a major disparity in the products that I am just not seeing. Because if there isn't; my company is selling its product WAY below cost. And if that's the case, perhaps I should worry about my job security. Alternatively, if there is no major difference, then RAD is overpriced by a substantial margin. I've got to be missing something here.
If I am, please educate me. I really want to know more, and I would truly welcome any thoughts on this as I continue my learning journey in the software world. If you are “in the trenches” and have any good war stories about these two products, I would love to hear them. Just remember that I‘ll only catch about a quarter of your acronym-words.
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