Re: Shareware on the i - Need some opinions....

Scott,

"IMHO, shareware is an outdated concept."

I respectfully disagree. Variations of the shareware concept are still alive and well and useful for assisting upstarts (like Dave) in entering markets that would be prohibitively expensive for a young startup to do in traditional ways.

Though you are right that we don't have to compete for shelf space, we still have to compete for "mind-space". In Dave's case let's assume he has a really awesome useful utility, how is he going to get people to even learn about it if all he can offer is a 30 day trial. People are more likely to give a tool a complete testing if they can do it on there own time.

Further, shareware allows the user to determine the usefulness of a product before payment. If you only use the tool a couple times a year you may be able to justify not buying it. But if you use it frequently you are more likely to want to pay-up.

Then there is the whole issue of support. Paying customers receive it and non payers don't.

Shareware is not for every product, and it's not going to make Dave a millionaire, but it can be a great way to launch a little start up and get a little chunk of mindshare with his intended audience.

IMHO

jte

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