On Tue, Apr 23, 2002 at 08:39:39PM -0700, Joe wrote: > --- SH Luk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I would like to know what do you think: > > Could a independent developer survive by writing palm > > shareware? (Or wince?) > > As a result of reading this list for about 2 years, I would say "it is > possible, but unlikely." Most of the shareware developers appear to > have other sources of income besides whatever they get from their Palm > OS products. > > Windows CE operates in an entirely different universe, so I don't know > how well shareware authors are doing there.
Please pardon my rant. I've done a little commercial Palm OS programming, but no shareware. Contract jobs can pay reasonably well. But honestly, I don't know or care about shareware. Don't get me wrong. I respect fellow programmers; it takes a lot of pain and sweat to get a handheld product out the door. I just shipped version 1.0 of my employer's product, and now I'm having fun watching the marketing folks sell it. It's all kind of amusing. But the amount of hell I had to go through to get that software to work was absurd. I have respect for anyone trying to make money with PDA software, and I wish them the best. But as a hardcore Palm user, I find most shareware to be a complete turnoff. Here are my reasons: a) "Shareware" is a misnomer. The term, as it stands, would more accurately describe software piracy; as far as I can see, there is no definition of the verb "share" that describes a system in which one is expected to pay for a product after a trial period. Perhaps "trialware", "demoware", or "nagware" would be more descriptive. Henceforth, I will use "trialware". b) No offense to inexperienced/newbie programmers out there, but it seems that many people think that any quick application they slap together ought to be released as trialware, rather than unsupported freeware. Any Macintosh user knows what I am talking about. These apps are easy to spot; in many cases, the nag screen is the most sophisticated part of the program. This sort of trash waters down the entire trialware system by decreasing the signal to noise ratio, while simultaneously nag-screening itself into uselessness. c) Price should correspond to scope, usefulness, quality, etc. Unfortunately, it usually does not. It is quite reasonable to sell a sophisticated application for $30, or even more in some cases. But, taking some certain Macintosh amateur radio software as an example, it is ludicrous to expect me to pay $20 for a buggy, ugly, and limited application that lacks essential features and really looks like it was thrown together last weekend by a newbie. d) Many trialware authors seem to be under the impression that timeouts, incessant nag screens, missing features, deliberate incompatibilities, and so forth will lead to more registrations. In reality, these things generally just irritate the user and contribute to a negative overall impression of the software. *Subtle* reminders might be effective, but timed popups and short expiration periods are just obnoxious. Remember, trialware authors: *I* am the customer, and *you* are the vendor. You want me to buy your software. Do you really think the best way to convince me to do that is to pop up a dialog box every five minutes that says, "THIS SOFTWARE IS U N R E G I S T E R E D !!!!" and demand payment? Honey attracts more flies than vinegar. Oh, and don't get me started on "wait 10 seconds before you can click OK" nag screens. That's sort of like pinching the user and saying, "Send me money or I'll keep doing this!" There is nothing inherently wrong with the trialware concept; in fact, I think it is a very good thing in today's online world. But it's usually done so poorly that I tend to take any such application with a grain of salt. I, personally, prefer to write free software, and release the code to the public. But that's a whole different rant. -John -- John R. Hall - KG4RUO - Stranded in the Sol System Student, Georgia Tech; Author, Programming Linux Games -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
