@naes - It was a joke, that's all. There was no malice involved.
Imo Daz's fire sales were an interesting marketing ploy designed to boost Platinum subscriptions. I have no problem with this as I benefited by getting Hex for a song, which was my favorite modeling app until I got TS. Unfortunately Daz are primarily a content company, which really shows when you look at the lack of direct support for their 3d products.
Shade has the same problem.
@Plum - Maybe you can spare some of your tax return to buy those Caligari vids? By your cost analysis you'll be saving nearly $2000 on learning TS.
Really though, there's plenty of free learning to be had on the forums. I've gone from noob to comfortable in less than three weeks, even with the dodgy manual (which is my only major issue with this app so far).
I think everyone would prefer free everything, however this isn't the world we live in. If any of you really want to learn TS I'm more than happy to help you here or there if you like, indefinitely. No charge.
One thing I'll say is that at least both these apps have video learning material available. Shade has nothing, and desperately needs it. I would pay for an advanced Callisto/shaders course without hesitating.