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The Real Week Of Independent Mac DevelopersMacHeist, MacAppADay and MacZot hurt developers, and as a result, hurt their users. Users love these services because they get applications for free that would normally have cost them money. Developers attempt to like these services, believing that their mind-share is increasing, even as their support costs go up and sales don't increase. It's not so great that MacHeist is giving 25% of proceeds to charities of their choice, either. There are better ways to do that, where the charity gets exactly the amount you want to donate. One Mac user is fighting back against the farce with The Real Week Of Independent Mac Developers. His idea? "Sometime this week purchase a license for three shareware applications that you have had on your radar for a while. Let those developers know that you want to support all of their hard work with your dollars." I think it's a great plan. The only way independent Mac developers will stay in business is if we buy their software. If we're forever waiting for a discounted or free version to come along, then we're just being leeches. The apps that have an unlimited-time trial, with only nagging messages to remind you to register are much more elegant than something that shuts itself off after 30 days. The developers of this type of program are the type that I most want to support, as they have let me use their product (in this case PithHelmet) without unreasonable restrictions until I have had the cash flow to make a purchase. I'm proud to support the indie Mac developer talent pool, and enjoy using almost every piece of shareware I've paid for. (ecto, Interarchy, ControllerMate, Missing Sync, Url Manager Pro, FontCard, WindowShade X, a few more I can't think of right now) A few Mac developers chip in with their thoughts; Gus Mueller (VoodooPad), Rory Prior (NewsLife, InstantGallery), Paul Kafasis (Rogue Amoeba) and Fraser Speirs (FlickrExport) all seem to agree that MacHeist and its ilk are a negative influence on Mac users. Mac pundit John Gruber sorts through some of the mess, then posts his updated thoughts. Members of the MacHeist staff respond in the comments to some of these posts, but they just seem to keep digging themselves a deeper hole, in essence admitting that the developers aren't getting a fair deal. Be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. It rarely turns out to be what you expected. Just got word of an upcoming scummy-sounding 'game' which involves an invite-only community of people who are willing to post lies online, or as the post puts it, take part in 'propaganda creation'. Since Waste A Weekend is being done by the same people as one of the leech sites, MacAppADay, I suspect it will involve a large group of Mac users who are willing to 'Digg' stories that have no value, and will most likely only promote applications that involve some revenue sharing with the site owners. The full site isn't even up and you better believe they have a Firefox affiliate banner ad on their FAQ page. I find it hard to believe that one of the frequently asked questions is "How can I make more money for you?" |
Leech Sites?
Strong words for marketing tools used to get the word out about shareware, don't you think?
Mark Howson is on our staff at macCompanion magazine and our ad we paid for is on MacAppADay. We support him and his month-long activity getting the word out about shareware apps. Remember that only the the first 5,000 downloaders get the files for free per day, whcih means that if you are over in Great Britain, this is a gerat deal at 12:01 AM., but kind of the pits if you are in Hawaii. Then the system kicks over to the developer's site for purchase.
It's a good gig. I wished I'd thought of it! The folks that are bad-mouthing the give-away sites are spitting sour grapes and apparently are green with envy because they didn't think of it first or decided to opt-out when they had the chance and are now wishing to they had gone ahead and participated.
Either way, MacAppADay certainly has generated traffic for us at http://www.maccompanion.com, so the fee we paid was a good investment.
More Clarity
'Leech' is in reference to those who get the free version of the apps, then expect loads of support and never plan to pay the developer for anything.
I have no problem with the site itself. It was an interesting idea that will likely surface again.
We'll just have to wait to find out which developers choose to be a part of it again, that is, whether or not they feel it was worth it.
Thanks for your feedback.
You could have posted at least ONE link to a dissenting opinion.
Sheesh, really, you make it look like everyone supports your argument by not linking to ONE person who disagrees with you.
The ridiculous thing here is you are basically saying, "Look, this deal is unfair to the people who decided it was worth it, so I should be mad ON THEIR BEHALF."
Thanks, I guess? I mean, I was happy to sign up, and will be happy to cash the checks.
Couldn't you, I don't know, TALK to ONE PERSON who was in the bundle and maybe ask why we did it before you make a big post like this? I've been creating and marketing my own software for almost twenty years now, and have founded two of the most famous independent companies -- did you stop and think maybe I had some reasons for signing up that you weren't factoring into your calculations?
-Wil Shipley
Chief Monster,
Delicious Monster Software
Clarity
I didn't think the largest indie Mac developer would have anything to lose by participating.
Other developers, however, may have ended up with the short end of the stick.
To be clear, the post was intended as a way to share information about what was happening, not to express anger on someone else's behalf.
Thanks for your response, however. I definitely could have posted links to those who thought it was a good idea, and I will make the effort to cover things more clearly in the future.
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