As long as potential customers aren't offended, this is an odd complaint, but the psychology is predictable. Indeed, part of the reason I made a free online version of the Rails Tutorial (the PDF book mentioned in the article) was to insulate myself against the criticism that I was gouging my customers. I figured that if people complained about the price of the PDF and screencasts, I could say "Look, there's a 500-page book available for free online—what more do you want from me?" This strategy has worked, with basically no complaints about cost. In fact, most feedback had been along the lines of "This is a great value. I hope it's making a lot of money!" It is, and finding a business model that makes money while giving away a lot of value has been very gratifying.
In the case of the Rails course mentioned in the OP, maybe they can record it and make the videos available for free, à la MIT OpenCourseWare. That wouldn't silence all the critics, but it might shut some of them up. And I bet it would boost sales to boot.
Comments
As long as potential customers aren't offended, this is an odd complaint, but the psychology is predictable. Indeed, part of the reason I made a free online version of the Rails Tutorial (the PDF book mentioned in the article) was to insulate myself against the criticism that I was gouging my customers. I figured that if people complained about the price of the PDF and screencasts, I could say "Look, there's a 500-page book available for free online—what more do you want from me?" This strategy has worked, with basically no complaints about cost. In fact, most feedback had been along the lines of "This is a great value. I hope it's making a lot of money!" It is, and finding a business model that makes money while giving away a lot of value has been very gratifying.
In the case of the Rails course mentioned in the OP, maybe they can record it and make the videos available for free, à la MIT OpenCourseWare. That wouldn't silence all the critics, but it might shut some of them up. And I bet it would boost sales to boot.