--- I wrote:
> >On Fri, 26 Apr 2002 20:05:39 -0700 (PDT), Joe wrote:
> >In what way does that make the experiment unscientific? �
> >As described, the software decided (randomly, with
> >50-50 odds) whether to be crippleware or shareware at
> >the time it was installed
--- Brenda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Maybe I misunderstood something.
>
> It's not scientific imho because comparing crippleware to shareware
> gives you no "control" group. Or again maybe I am misunderstanding
> the example. Or maybe we don't agree on what the terms shareware and
> crippleware mean.
Or, maybe you have an incorrect definition of what you consider to be
"scientific". The purpose of the experimental design was to determine
which registration method produces more sales (money for the author).
All subjects in the experiment participated without even knowing they
were in an experiment. They had already decided, for whatever reason,
to download and install that software. Out of everyone who installed
the software, 50% received a shareware version ("pay me if you want to
be good") and 50% received a crippleware version ("pay me or it won't
work properly"). The result: of the people who participated in the
experiment and paid for the software during an 11 month period, the
crippleware group made more purchases, by a margin of 5 to 1.
> I have heard that some people don't even continue to try crippled
> software just because it is crippled. Like in this example, because
> they can't get 1 complete output they just immediately give up on the
> program.
In this experiment, all subjects were told in advance that the
unregistered version of the software was crippled, yet they all tried
it. In this example, MORE people who received crippled software paid
for it! Apparently, they did not just immediately give up on the
program. Perhaps you are referring to software that pretends to be
shareware, but is actually crippled -- It would not be a big surprise
if people give up when they expect something for nothing only to find
out that it won't work unless they pay for it.
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