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From: fyl@ssc.UUCP (Phil Hughes)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: Paying for Shareware
Summary: my $.02 worth
Message-ID: <372@ssc.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jan 90 18:03:22 GMT
References: <1134@utoday.UUCP> <15410@well.UUCP> <N7..ACxds13@ficc.uu.net>
Organization: SSC, Inc., Seattle, WA
Lines: 44

There are two sides to shareware that are very similar to the two sides of
why you need to lock your car.  I have a product that is almost ready for
the DOS world that I am seriously considering distributing as shareware.
That decision isn't made yet but here are my thoughts.

I originally wrote the program for my own use.  (It is a smart dictionary
that translates Spanish words into English, conjugates verbs and knows how
to un-conjugate a verb form to get back to an infinitive.)  I wrote it
because I want to learn more Spanish and this, for me, is a good learning
tool.

Along the way I got interested in marketing it because it is useful to
others.  But, the difference between something that I use and a package
with documentation that will run on every DOS system in the world is
significant.  In fact, it was written on a UNIX system and I have no
interest in DOS at all for my use.  So, at this point I have invested
hundreds of hours in the part of the program that is of no use to me.
In other words, I have an investment -- both time and money -- in making
it a commercial product.

Now, I would like the see the maximum number of people use the product.
I also believe that people should have a chance to try something before
they buy it.  Shareware satisfies both of these criteria.  A dial-up demo
would satisfy the second.  The big difference is that to make this work
with a method other than shareware I need to spend thousands of dollars in
marketing.  I would rather put that money into the product itself.  I
appreciate the fact that if I use the BBS route to distribute the product
that I am taking advantage of investment on the part of others.  But I
offer a better deal because of the money I save.

Other alternative are to distribute crippled products.  This seems like a
real waste.  People don't get the real product and yet I take advantage of
the free distribution channels to advertize the product.

I have send out beta versions of the program and asked in the questionaire
what people though of shareware vs. commercial distribution.  The answers
came back about 50% in favor of each.  I also notice that the newest
version of PC-File is not shareware.

I would like to encourage further discussion -- I really do want to pick
the answer that is best for the product and the users.
-- 
Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155  (206)FOR-UNIX
     uunet!pilchuck!ssc!fyl or attmail!ssc!fyl            (206)527-3385