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I finally feel philosophical enough to impose some of my thoughts
regarding the recent B-D software debate on my colleagues. I use B-D
in this discussion as a paradigm for all flow manufacturers and
biotech companies. Many of the arguments I've read on this network
seem to reflect a disdain for business in academia. In other words,
the notion exists that a profit motive is less than honorable and
often interferes with legitimate scientific inquiry.
I contend that corporate profit is in the best interest of academic
science. B-D makes money by selling cytometers, not software.
Software sales can not support the overhead necessary to build the
hardware. Every company tries to get a "leg-up" on their competition
with innovation, low price, more features, etc. We are the
beneficiaries of this competition. I concede B-D's point, giving away
their 'leg-up' will in the end be counterproductive to B-D and to
those of us who rely on B-D. If B-D does not make money, they go away
and we all build Cytomuts. I am not very handy, so, this institution
would probably be flow-less if someone did not sell cytometers.
Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is fodder for future
discussions.
Many of us have been in this field long enough to remember when our
monoclonal antibodies were obtained by making them ourselves or
begging them from colleagues. Supplies of antibodies were limited,
quality was inconsistent, standardization was poor and support was
nonexistent. Also, new antibodies were slow in appearing. Thankfully,
it is profitable to sell monoclonal antibodies and the research which
requires them has flourished.
One final point on software. As some have noted in past messages,
the best software has come from independent providers (Verity,
Phoenix, TrueFacts, TechTeam, etc). If software is given away, it
will no longer be feasible to sell it and those who make a living by
providing us with innovative and useful software will go the way of
the Dodo. We will be left with only those who are willing to give it
away or B-D, Coulter and Ortho. As those companies have argued, they
do not make money on software. Therefore, it is unreasonable to think
that we can count on the flow manufacturers to meet our analysis
needs. That leaves only our colleagues who are willing to give it
away as a source new software. I hope the parallel to monoclonal
antibodies is apparent.
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