Talk Back to Quark: New Educational Discounts on XPress
I have or have had six kids in college over the past decade. As we all know, college students — and for that matter, college staff and faculty — are not exactly rich nor living on expense accounts. My kids avoided paying for software whenever they could (usually hitting me up for a copy of an application). Even the educational discount was excessive when your income is limited to the discretionary spending left over after tuition, room, and board are paid.
But if an application was essential to their student work, they’d buy a copy to get the documentation and support. As Paul Saffo of the Institute of the Future once said at a Seybold Seminars keynote, “Today’s pirates are tomorrow’s consumers.”
Nowhere are both more in abundance than on college campuses today. Most software vendors offer some type of educational pricing, either with special editions of their applications (which both Microsoft and Adobe offer) or through discounts off retail versions with proof of attendance at an educational institution.
Companies that don’t offer a significant educational outreach program via discounts or special editions are missing the boat. Think about it. If designers learn how to use QuarkXPress in college, then what’s most likely to be the application they will select when they are out on their own or working in an agency? That’s why Quark’s previous parsimonious educational pricing program didn’t make the grade – it didn’t induce either instructors or students to select XPress over, say, Adobe InDesign.
Quark’s Discount Fails Class
When I received the following email from Kim Peasley, I passed it along to Quark with a recommendation that Quark change its educational pricing (as a consultant to the company, I can do that). After all, from Quark’s viewpoint it would be a shame if new generations of designers and graphic artists train on Adobe Creative Suite rather than QuarkXPress:
“Lack of educational discount means that many colleges and universities must switch,” Kim wrote. “I have been using Quark for 12 years to design for PR offices at colleges. We are contemplating a switch [to InDesign] for several reasons; price is one. Also, college student classes that do newspapers and other media products are switching as well. If a prof has to buy several copies [of QuarkXPress], it is just hard to justify to the higher cost compared to Adobe. I think it is dumb marketing on part of Quark . . . all those young people then become InDesign users.
“Because of the pricing we have not upgraded in a while. I hate to have to learn a whole new language and all my files are Quark. But the seamless integration in Adobe products seems attractive. I love Photoshop so much that we personally bought Adobe stock a few years ago . . . so part of me wants Adobe to succeed. But I know Quark so well.”
New Educational Discounts
Several months passed. Yesterday I received Quark’s response regarding a new educational pricing plan:
“Effective immediately, we have new promotional pricing for our educational customers…students, instructors, schools and authorized training centers,” wrote Quark rep Darcy, who went on to spell out the requirements for educational discounts:
- Students (single ed product)
- One per student
- Must show class schedule with 12 or more credit hours at an accredited school or copy of student ID
- Schools/Instructors (single ed product)
- Proof of accreditation as a public or private university, college, primary or secondary school
- Copy of Instructor ID (for Instructors only)
- Student/Instructor Pricing
- Full product $199, down from $415
- Upgrades from V4 or 5 to 6 — $99, down from $199
- School Labpaks
- Proof of accreditation as above
- School Pricing
- Labpaks:$99 per seat, down from $185…minimum of 10 seats
- Labpaks: upgrade from V4 or 5 to 6 — $89 per seat, down from $95
Quark then went on to say that the new policy applies to customers in the United States and Canada. More info is available at https://www.quark.com/sales/desktop/promotions/educational/
I was impressed. These prices represent a significant discount off of list. It’s in the ballpark of the types of discounts Microsoft offers to educators on Office, and Adobe on InDesign CS. The Labpack pricing is even more attractive and should appeal to schools teaching QuarkXPress hands-on or simply using it to produce their own publications.
Adobe still has an advantage over Quark with its Creative Suite for those who want Photoshop and Illustrator in addition to InDesign. But given Quark’s continued dominance in the professional publishing market, the new educational pricing should at least make it easier for schools to keep training students on XPress without breaking the budget. And the new pricing plan should remove one more item from everyone’s list of bones to pick with Quark.
More on Mobile Licensing
Hardly had the pixels on my screen displaying my last column on Quark’s new mobile licensing policy refreshed themselves before I was deluged with e-mails like the following from Judy:
“I read the online article on Creativepro.com about Quark’s new mobile licensing policy and how they are allowing us to put Quark on our second computer for free. What about us poor souls who paid for the mobile license already for our second computer, are we to receive a refund of some sort or do we just have bad timing and are out of luck?”
At similar light speed came Quark’s response from the indomitable Darcy:
“The policy is up on the website now,” she wrote, citing the text on the site.
“What if I purchased a Quark Mobile License? Call Quark customer service (800-676-4575) and request a $75 coupon that you can apply to purchases of Quark products, including printed user manuals or technical support calls. Please let these customers know that when they place and order in the future to use Keycode A237.”
This was cool: For once Quark was able to nip a flame in the bud. Who can tell what’s next?
You can talk back to Quark and maybe get your Quark related problems solved as well by emailing Craig at qu***@*********ro.com.
Read more by Craig Cline.
This article was last modified on January 6, 2023
This article was first published on August 4, 2004
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