Well then, if there were no maintenace fees how would the companies sustain profitability i.e. stay in business.
With the amount of competition out there at present, it is extremely difficult to get sales prices that would also cover the on going R & D.

I personally spend a lot of time on this very question, and believe me it is very difficult to come up with a sustainable model that cover both support & ongoing R & D.

BTW it is even difficult justifying full Quality Assurance.

>>So without the Maintenance fees the Companies wouldn't be in profit i.e. they would go broke and from that there would be no more R & D.
>>
>>>Interesting blog... puts some "hard" numbers to what many already suspect:
>>>
>>>http://abridgedmind.blogspot.com/2009/04/broken-promise-of-software-maintenance.html
>
>It's not necessary for software companies to adopt the maintenance fees model in order to be financially successful.
>
>The maintenance fees model clearly makes companies treat their customers as cash cows, and reduces their incentive to innovate.