| There are two CBM developers support programs.
The Commercial Developers Support Program is $450 or so a year, and comes with
lots of goodies. I know people who bought A3000's for around $2K through
that program, but that was a limited-time, one-shot deal. I don't know what
the current pricing is. Note that you have to meet CBM's approval to enter
this program.
The Certified Developers Support Program is $50 or so a year, and comes
with fewer goodies. It does include marketing information, technical
information, and pre-announcement information on new products. It also
includes a nice discount on CBM hardware, though not 50%. It doesn't
require you to meet Commodore's approval, but does require signing
a non-disclosure agreement before they'll let you join.
I knew about the discount before signing the non-disclosure agreement,
but not the amounts. The amounts of the discount are covered by the
non-disclosure agreement, so legally I can't tell you what they are.
I just took all the data on this home, otherwise I'd have the phone
number for you. You need to call CBM and ask for information on the
developer support programs. You'll eventually get to someone who'll
send you an envelope detailing exactly what this costs and what you get.
Note that the Certified Developers Support program is intended to support
people who are developing software, but aren't in a position to afford
the cost of the Commercial Program, or who aren't qualified for it. PD/
Shareware developers, companies just getting started, etc. Joining it
just for the sake of getting the discount is abusing the system. If lots
of people start doing this, the discounts will shrink or vanish, making
life harder for those with a legitimate need for this kind of service,
and probably hurting the Amiga software market.
<mike
|