Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!ORION.CF.UCI.EDU!mdelama1
From: mdelama1@ORION.CF.UCI.EDU (Michael De La Maza)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: zlink
Message-ID: <8803080021.aa08696@SMOKE.BRL.ARPA>
Date: 8 Mar 88 04:50:43 GMT
References: <8803072047.AA02332@godot.think.com>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 39


    	Dave, Dave don't get so discouraged.  Computer Scientists are
supposed to be tough (when the going gets tough, the tough get going,
right buddy?)  Here's some advice from a guy who has sharewared (no,
Martha, it's not in the dictionary) six disks for the Apple // in the
last 5 years.  It's going to be a bit windy and conceited, but if you
bear with me, maybe you'll learn something.
        Each one of my six programs has an interesting history behind
(and in front) of it.  I present two anecdotes for your edification.
        Game Doctor was written and sold many eons ago.  It had a bunch
of routines that taught you how to write all sorts of programs (i.e.
logic routines (for chess, cards, etc.), adventure games, arcade games, etc.)
I gave a way 
an introductory version and told people they could get an upgrade for
$14.95.  I made less than $100 on it.  What's funny is that about six
months later, Broderbund came out with Arcade Machine.  Now if you
remember this program was about three months late...I don't want to
suggest that there was any crosstalk between Game Doctor and Arcade
Machine, but I will anyway (I said it would sound egoistic, didn't I?)
In any case, Arcade Machine completely destroyed all sales of Game Doctor.
What's funny is that Game d
Doctor was a much more developed program than Arcade Machine: it had
more features and a better user interface.  If the life cycle of the
program had been a little bit longer, it would have become an awesome
product, but I gave up on it after Arcade Machine came out.
	Covenant is a shareware program I sold about two years ago.  I
sharewared it for a year, made a measly $800.  I ripped it out of
Shareware, advertised it in a couple rags, made a presentation in front
of an Apple user's group I belong to (you live 3 ft from the Boston
Computer Society, Dave).  I made $800 in a month.  The moral of the
story: if you want to make money, don't shareware.  I only know of a
few guys who successfully shareware programs and they do it full time
and they market uniqe products with no competition.
	Finally.  Dave you are a student of (at?) MIT, the most venerated
science institution in the solar system.  Don't give up, live up to
the name (hell, you don't want CalTech students to catch up, do you?)

					-- Michael de la Maza
					   ATTnet 714-854-7093