Some companies have very strange ideas about how to sell software.

“So, you want the Frangle SDK?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, that will be $1995 for the compiler.”

“That’s kind of steep, software-wise. I’m just sayin’.”

“Or the Platinum version for $13,995. That’s the one with the unlimited number of compiles.”

“WHAT?”

“And options. Let’s see, header files; generally $4.95 each, but stdio.h is $9.95, ctype.h is $3.99. STL includes are $49.95 each, but we have a special on std::vector and std::map for $29.95.”

“(gurgle)”

“Of course, you’ll need to buy the ZX-990-TX2500C library kit (version 3.2.11), and most of our customers also find it necessary to get a linker, too (trust me, get the Pro version). The debug libraries are $395, or $595 if you also buy the release variants. Import symbols are usually around $995 per kernel, on a developer-seat basis, but we can usually get this down if you also agree to buy a profiler package.”

“(ghhh)”

“Do you anticipate needing to debug anything? I can put you in touch with our lease department so we can arrange terms on our line of symbolic debuggers.”

“-”

“And are you interested in any of this when it comes out of Beta?”