A. Pagaltzis wrote:
> * Sean O'Rourke <[email protected]> [2007-08-16 23:00]:
>> Here's an analogy. Say you want people to wear seatbelts. You
>> might:
>>
>>     (1) Install a buzzer that go off for 10 seconds after a car
>>         starts unless the driver's seatbelt is fastened; or
>>     (2) Install a buzzer that never shuts off while the buckle
>>         is undone; or
>>     (3) Disable the ignition while the driver's seatbelt is
>>         unfastened.
>>
>> IMAO (2) is no more effective than (1), but far more annoying,
>> and therefore hateful.
> 
> That's true, but what you are saying is is that #2 makes people
> not put on their seatbelts out of spite. How is that supposed to
> make sense?
> 
> If it was that hateful, why didn't you stop using it? And if you
> didn't stop using it despite getting pissed off, why didn't you
> just buy it to spare yourself the bile?
> 
> Maybe the incessant nagging reduces the number of people who are
> willing to pay. That might be a valid point. But if it's pissing
> off freeloaders at the same time, well then I can't quite fault
> the author for putting in a nag screen.

In real life, #2 caused people to just disable the buzzer.  I guess that would
be analogous to pirating the software.

Pissing off potential customers is never a good way to sell your product.

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