Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!ptsfa!styx!mordor!sri-spam!rutgers!husc6!uwvax!uwmacc!vms.macc.wisc.edu!edwards From: edwards@vms.macc.wisc.edu.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Another View on Shareware Message-ID: <1474@uwmacc.UUCP> Date: Tue, 5-May-87 09:28:01 EDT Article-I.D.: uwmacc.1474 Posted: Tue May 5 09:28:01 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 7-May-87 01:39:06 EDT References: <18006@sun.uucp> Sender: news@uwmacc.UUCP Reply-To: edwards@uwwircs.UUCP (Mark Edwards) Organization: UW-Madison Academic Computer Center Lines: 64 Keywords: Shareware, free advertising, many versions Xref: utgpu comp.sys.amiga:4270 comp.sys.ibm.pc:3371 In article <18006@sun.uucp> cmcmanis@sun.uucp (Chuck McManis) writes: >TITLE: A long tirade, being my opinions. > The problem with shareware is twofold. First, the users don't know the >difference between shareware and public domain software (or maybe they just >don't *want* to know the difference). Second, it hurts little companies and >not big ones. Big companies can just raise prices and put a couple dozen >programmers to work adding features to distinguish their work from the >shareware or small-company stuff. Small companies can't. The article probably is basically right, but..... There are some observations I would like to make. I have several shareware programs on floppy disk. I do not use them, one because I didn't want to learn how, and two I have not found a need to do so. The Big Question is should I pay for them? If I had to buy them from the store or a mail order company I would not have. If shareware means to keep a copy you must pay for it, then I'll hit the BIG rm key, del for you messyDOSers. It is a nice feeling though that they are there if and when I need them. If I find them that useful I will pay for them at that time. If and when that time does come, there probably will be a newer, more improved version out. So I will send in my money and find this out. What happens if the version I have is severely out dated and the asking price is also improved to the authors benefit. Of course I will want the newest version, so how much is it going to cost me? It probably would have been cheaper if I had gotten a copy of the newest version and payed for that one instead of what I had. If I want the latest version of MSC I look in the magazine, and call the mail order firm with the lowest, reliable price. I have a better chance at getting the most recent copy from a mail order place than from ye ole BBS. Do I have a money back warrantee if after really using the shareware program I find that its defective. I realize that the chances are bad with other software from major firms. From observations on BBS and Usenet I see an awful lot of new and improve version of programs, shareware and otherwise, after the umpteenth update my pocket book is complaining and might not I have been better off, not to use it, or purchased a different product. I do realize it is the nature of software to be updated, but somehow it seems that some of the programs, including shareware, were lacking in the first place and through the distribution the product was improved. Another problem I have is what happens when the OS is improved so much that the shareware program no longer functions? I think one of the ways that MicroSoft has gotten so rich, is that they have nickled and dimed everyone so much with their new and improved versions. And now it seems with OS/2 they have found a way to change those nickles and dimes to $5 and $10. It also seems that in the end whatever OS MicroSoft will have, will look and feel much like the present day Unix system. Of course they may make a more user friendly user interface (whatever that means). But meanwhile MicroSoft has made a bundle, or some other company moved in on their business and cloned Unix, OS/2 or whatever it happens to be. My last observation on shareware and its failure is advertising. How can people buy something they know nothing about. Is the range of the distribution of shareware as great as the range of MS or other companies? I think not, what percent is it? My very last observation is about the shareware message I see when I brought up PC-WRITE, everytime I brought it up I saw the send X amount of dollars to some place. Does this disappear when I send in my money? That message does not look professional to me, it looks cheap and very commericial. Almost like the author should pay me everytime I call PC-WRITE up, because he is using my screen like a billboard, or an add in a magazine. Just some Idle thoughts (flames > /dev/null) mark edwards@vms.macc.wisc.edu {allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!edwards UW-Madison, 1210 West Dayton St., Madison WI 53706