Paying for Shareware
Has any one else gotten Honest lately? I have found myself Paying for Shareware that Runs on OS X when I never did under the old OS.
I don't use a lot of Shareware on OS X yet. But I used Graphic Converter for YEARS with out paying, I bought it the other month after installing OS X and then other Shareware I like and Use I Paid for.
I feel so much better, Not that I am patting myself on the back for being honest for once!
I'd pay 1200 to 1500 for Adobe software, but couldn't pay some guy $20 for his simple application?
I repent.
Anyone else? <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
I don't use a lot of Shareware on OS X yet. But I used Graphic Converter for YEARS with out paying, I bought it the other month after installing OS X and then other Shareware I like and Use I Paid for.
I feel so much better, Not that I am patting myself on the back for being honest for once!
I'd pay 1200 to 1500 for Adobe software, but couldn't pay some guy $20 for his simple application?
I repent.
Anyone else? <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
Comments
I'm ok with paying for shareware once I know it's updated enough and will be sticking around.
i guess i'll go to hell. (what's that? there is no hell? cool!)
I'm all for supporting the little guys. Much of the best software comes from independents who do something because they love to do it, and obsess over details because they only have to answer to their own standards.
I hate when people say "I'll pay for that app when it gets this feature and that feature." The problem with that logic is, when no one pays for version 1.0, there is seldom a version 2.0.
[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: Michael Grey ]</p>
I would also have paid Mr. Lemke, had my company not already done so.
[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: CharlesS ]</p>
You want to pirate a copy of MS Office or something... OK, I guess. You might be able to justify it by saying "MS doesn't need my money."
But small software developers are people like you & me -- maybe even poorer than you and me! -- and even though they get used to a very small percentage of their users registering, everything helps. You can actually make a difference to these small (solo or "a few guys") developers with your very affordable registration.
I was talking to a midi software developer (Windows platform only) at a party recently, and he said that he has hundreds of downloads for every single registration he gets. He has actually thought about giving up development on ALL his midi apps, because he can make more money on a weekend's "work for hire" coding or debugging for a bigger company, than he can on one of his apps that takes hundreds or even thousands of hours work. He keeps doing it for the right reasons, but he was clearly discouraged. He said "If even 5% of the people who used a program regularly, registered it, I would be ecstatic."
Makes me wonder if the shareware software distribution idea isn't broken...
<strong>I agree with most of the above comments.
You want to pirate a copy of MS Office or something... OK, I guess. You might be able to justify it by saying "MS doesn't need my money."
But small software developers are people like you & me -- maybe even poorer than you and me! -- and even though they get used to a very small percentage of their users registering, everything helps.
[sad story of shareware developer hoping for 5% registration rate.]
Makes me wonder if the shareware software distribution idea isn't broken...</strong><hr></blockquote>
The initial model was definitely overoptimistic, which is why crippleware, demoware and nagware have become more and more common.
I don't think it's cause for pessimism so much as it's a misreading of the way people think. People are used to paying for something and then getting it (or in the case of restaurants, paying before they leave). Once you have something on your machine, it's "yours" in some basic way, and it's easy to forget that you actually haven't paid for it yet. Also, I think the relative difficulty of paying for shareware has accounted for a lot, although that's less true now - I remember printing out registration forms in good faith, and then simply forgetting to write the check, get the envelope and the stamp, and mail the silly thing. (This is why service providers send bills every month: To remind you that you have to pay them. And they're usually nice enough to send you an envelope, too.)
It's been established that reminders that pop up at the end of sessions are among the most effective ones. If someone could set up a way to make it so that a window popped up with a Pay Now... button that asked you how you'd pay, and then let you click a button to finalize the transaction, I'd bet registration rates would jump. The Keychain could be adapted for this purpose, I think. As long as there was some way to make the transaction reliable, secure and simple it would be a great solution.
Of course, your typical poor student would still be extremely erratic about paying, but that's forgiveable. You can't deny them their pizza money.
When people request donations but don't require it, it always depends on where I am financially at the time and whether I'm blown away by the software or service. I've donated to websites I've found invaluable and I've paid donationware "fees," but of course I don't always do it when requested.
I don't know when this started for me. I think there was an app or two I used in college that I didn't pay for. Heh. I was a Windows user then. Don't know if that has anything to do with it. But I've paid for software on Windows, OS 9 and OS X. Moreso on OS X, only because I was only on OS 9 for a few months before switching to X. Since I knew it, I didn't want to be too "invested" in the software.
With all the piracy that goes on with commercial software, I kind of feel that I am paying shareware fees when I pay for the expensive software like Photoshop, etc. These guys would have killer margins and solid profits if everyone paid, but, since everyone doesn't, they tend to struggle. <g> Though Microsoft's managed to deal with it pretty well, eh?
Alex.
When I see myself using it everyday or quite frequently, then yes, I will pay for it and I have.
I think more people should.
As much as my paycheck allows.
I like the fact that it is almost a quick and painless process to pay now and that makes me pay more often.
<strong>The fact that you have a lot of downloads doesn't necessarily mean that there are a lot of people using your software. I probably only pay for 5% of the software I download, but I probably only use 2% of the software I download more than a couple times. I have downloaded 5 backup/synch programs but none of them proved as fast/easy/reliable as simply copying my hard disk to an external hard disk once a week. I downloaded a few spreadsheets and even paid for two, but it turns out there are fucntions in Excel that I really need so I pretty much only use Excel. Etc.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Another thing to consider is that some of the people downloading your latest version will be people that already registered an older version and are just trying to keep up to date...
and so, for the moment, long live SerialSurfers!!!