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From: brad@looking.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.misc
Subject: Shareware is a HOAX Re: Another View on Shareware
Message-ID: <795@looking.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-May-87 21:33:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: looking.795
Posted: Tue May  5 21:33:11 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 7-May-87 00:35:44 EDT
References: <18006@sun.uucp>
Reply-To: @looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd. Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 37
Xref: utgpu comp.sys.amiga:4267 comp.sys.ibm.pc:3364 comp.sys.misc:539

The recent discussion on Shareware reminded me of a survey I took
last year, but never reported on.

I asked net readers (supposedly many thousands of high-profile micro
users with wide connections and good programming skills) to send me
their shareware success stories.

What did I get?  Essentially none.  Several stories of failure, and a
few mentions of programs like PC-Write and ARC.  Not one story of
success by a netreader or close associate.

Yes, a very few famous programs have made money for their authors.
Perhaps in these cases the word got around that you were supposed to pay.
But in general, if you put a program out in shareware you won't get
the slightest fraction of your development costs back.

Oddly enough, the less you charge to register, the fewer registrations you
will get.  (I guess people figure they won't get anything for a cheap
registration, or that it isn't worth the time.)

One program with a 25 cent registration made the author 50 cents.
On the net, we see a $5 registration making $10.
A program with a $10 registration made $310.
A program with a $50 registration made $600.

All these amounts less than 1 or 2 days consulting fees.

Even the big boys of shareware are gnats compared to Bill Gates and
Peter Norton and Dave Weiner etc.

The conclusion -- Shareware is a hoax.  Only a very, very few make money
from it, and their programs would probably have sold far more as
commercial products.  (Has PC-Write gone commercial now?)
It was a cute idea, but it just isn't real.

-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473