Here's my take on the Dove increases that are "necessary" to sustain the "growth and service" of the Dove network.
With any system, there are fixed and variable costs. The main server, admin staff, etc are fixed - or at least staged, to increase at certain levels of expantion.
The variables are the per-user, per-transaction, per-message items.
The more users a system has, the lower the fixed cost per user ratio. Therefore a lower overall cost per user.
Our Dove fees were $29.95 one year ago. At Christmas, they increased to $39.95, and Sept 03 up to $59.95. I'm left with only one conclusion - Somebody screwed up.
EITHER
1) The original cost was too low, and they are losing hand-over-fist. It became necessary to radically increase fees to cover the real cost.
OR
2) The new cost is a cash grab, and the line about covering "growth costs" is a bold-faced lie. Somebody put $$ ahead of integrity.
I know the general regard that Wire Services are held in by florists. Most people will assume option #2 is correct.
Myself, I vote for #1. Somebody mis-projected the costs involved in getting the system to the point it's at now, and over 20,000 members bought into the low-cost advatange of the Dove system and will now pay the price.
Let the attrition begin.
With any system, there are fixed and variable costs. The main server, admin staff, etc are fixed - or at least staged, to increase at certain levels of expantion.
The variables are the per-user, per-transaction, per-message items.
The more users a system has, the lower the fixed cost per user ratio. Therefore a lower overall cost per user.
Our Dove fees were $29.95 one year ago. At Christmas, they increased to $39.95, and Sept 03 up to $59.95. I'm left with only one conclusion - Somebody screwed up.
EITHER
1) The original cost was too low, and they are losing hand-over-fist. It became necessary to radically increase fees to cover the real cost.
OR
2) The new cost is a cash grab, and the line about covering "growth costs" is a bold-faced lie. Somebody put $$ ahead of integrity.
I know the general regard that Wire Services are held in by florists. Most people will assume option #2 is correct.
Myself, I vote for #1. Somebody mis-projected the costs involved in getting the system to the point it's at now, and over 20,000 members bought into the low-cost advatange of the Dove system and will now pay the price.
Let the attrition begin.
