Path: news.mathworks.com!not-for-mail
From: "Hui " <hui@notlikely.com>
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Subject: Re: MATLAB Student Version R2008a?
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 02:01:02 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: Macquarie University
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Reply-To: "Hui " <hui@notlikely.com>
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Hi Pete,

Thank you for your exceptionally fast response to my 
question. Unfortunately, I am not at all impressed with the 
MathWorks response!

If MathWorks actually does &#8220;recognize that most of [their] 
users first encounter MATLAB while studying at their 
university&#8221;, why does the company continue to treat those 
student customers (which grow up to be professional 
customers) with such shameless contempt?

It is bad enough to read your statement that, &#8220;Historically 
Student Version releases have lagged behind our 
professional releases by several months&#8221; (for no apparent 
reason other than to penalise students for not having paid 
the full professional / astronomical price of between 19 
and 133 times more that the student price, see below). But 
to then read that, "there is no Student Version release 
planned for R2008a", I am completely overwhelmed with a 
feeling of despair.

This is not a minor upgrade! It is MATLAB meets object 
oriented programming! Who better to explore the new realms 
of MATLAB&#8217;s programming prowess than students?

Frankly, I am speechless with rage. How can I possibly 
respond to this ridiculous policy put together on the back 
of a napkin by the (not so) brilliant minds of MathWorks 
marketing management?

I&#8217;ll start off with this... Rather than &#8220;voicing [my] 
opinion by participating in a student purchase preference 
survey&#8221;, I&#8217;ll tell you exactly how I feel, right here, 
right now, in public.

I have purchased Wolfram Mathematica 6.0 for Students at a 
cost of $139.95. For an additional cost of $67.50 per year 
I get Student Premier Service which, among many other 
benefits, includes automatic upgrades to the latest product 
release the moment it becomes available. Next year I get 
10% of my Premier Service and, for the rest of my student 
career, these benefits continue.

http://www.wolfram.com/products/service/benefits/studentbene
fits.html

It isn&#8217;t hard to imagine where my loyalty is drifting, nor 
what I will likely recommend to my employer when I grow up. 
I&#8217;ll let you know how I get on.

Kind regards,

Hui

PS. MATLAB? & Simulink Student Version R2007a includes:

MATLAB                        $1,900
Simulink                       3,000
Control System Toolbox         1,000
Signal Processing Toolbox        800
Signal Processing Blockset     1,000
Statistics Toolbox             1,000
Optimization Toolbox           1,000
Image Processing Toolbox       1,000
Symbolic Math Toolbox            600
                             $13,300


"Pete Janzow" <pjanzow@mathworks.com> wrote in message 
<fqou9r$p4v$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> I am the product manager for Student Version here at The 
MathWorks.  We 
> recognize that most of our users first encounter MATLAB 
while studying at 
> their university, and we are always interested in hearing 
from students 
> about their experience and suggestions for Student 
Version.
> 
> Historically Student Version releases have lagged behind 
our professional 
> releases by several months.  While we are working hard to 
synchronize the 
> release cycles to a greater degree for future releases, 
there is no Student 
> Version release planned for R2008a.
> 
> As for upgrades, we do not currently offer an upgrade 
path for Student 
> Version, so you would need to purchase a new copy when 
the new release is 
> available.  However, recently we have begun to explore 
student preferences 
> for new license and package configurations that may 
enable us to offer new 
> solutions in the future.  If you would like voice your 
opinion by 
> participating in a student purchase preference survey 
that we are planning 
> for the next few weeks, please reply to me at my 
MathWorks account (below)..
> 
> Thanks for your interest in MATLAB & Simulink Student 
Version.
> 
> Pete Janzow
> Student Version Product Manager
> pjanzow@mathworks.com