Slashdot | Calculating the True Worth of Software: "Headline talks of worth, blurb speaks of cost. As I'm sure the poster is aware, they're not the same thing by a long way.

For example, I run a one-man contracting business. The worth to me of my accounts package is vast, the cost of it miniscule in comparison. And that cost is...one copy of Virtual PC for around £100 I think (I run OS X), one copy of XP for around £170 (retail, used it on a physical PC I no longer have and now it's on the emulator), then around £50 for Quicken UK. I can feel the Free people ganging up on me - I must be mad! That adds up to £230, that's nearly the price of a low-end machine! Well, to me that software is worth the amount, and the price is an utterly negligible amount of the cost of running my business.

Cheers,
Ian"