arstechnica.com — A group of Mac developers -- Rogue Amoeba, Bare Bones, Unsanity, and Potion Factory to name a few -- have got together to offer 20% off on all of their apps. After so much hubbub about Mac software this season, it's sometimes nice to just see plain old discounts.
Dec 19, 2006 View in Crawl 4
silver31uDec 20, 2006
I must say my timing seems pretty good. I "returned" to Mac this fall buying a MacBook Pro. I'm trying to split my time between my Boot Camp Win XP partition and Mac OS X. Now within the span of several weeks, we've seen MacHeist, Mac App a Day, MacSanta, etc.... It does seem to be a good time to try/buy Mac shareware.
roflanceDec 20, 2006
neat.
ahknightDec 20, 2006
I'm on the page as well. I like this idea muuuuch more than the other ones.
mabhatterDec 20, 2006
but the thing that made MacHeist so interesting was that they bundled the packages and still had a lower price. When I get my Mac I don't want to run around spending $39.95 everywhere for tidbits... I want the hottest apps in 1 download for a great price. That's why it was so popular. I think they got a little better deal than they should have with developers because it's so hard to sell shareware now days, but simplicity is what people want.. not chasing 10 different little developers for upgrades every year. The REAL lesson of MacHeist is that people WILL PAY for software... but you have to make it a good deal for them!! A discount at 20 places isn't the same as 10 utilities in 1 transaction. There's two ways I see to keep the momentum going. Way 1. More little mac developers band together and start doing this.. you'd have pseudo-publishers created. You sell the software just like a "box" store would.Way 2. My idea would be for a subscription model like a magazine... I've been watching Linux Mags for a while now, particularly the Linux Format and Linux User from the UK. I've always thought that would make a good software distribution model. Release every other month, with a DVD of apps. The book would cost, say, $25 and include so many apps each month. You'd be free to purchase any 1 on a single basis and get all those apps... no "subscription", no paying for things you don't really want. The Magazine articles would be related to the apps... so rather than just review and tutorial an app, you'd actually get the app too! A portion of each issue would go back to the developers. It would favor just the kinds of apps Mac users tend to want but don't actually buy... the "toy" apps. Personally I could see Ubuntu, Mandriva, or Linspire being released like that as well. You'd get a paper book with how-tos and a shiny disc so you don't have to download, you could even throw in support of some type or an online choice of apps like CnR. Maybe throw in a little commercial app or custom content that's not free, or too cumbersome for users to gather like a series of podcasts, etc... The key to a Magazine is that it's hard work to be ahead of the Internet in PRINT!! The magazine has to get exclusives first, and you break the "magic" if you pull the "download patches" card every month. It's a tough road, but it seems to address many of the issues mac/linux users would have with limited market and distribution.Either way, software outside the "big" apps moves much too quickly for the retail model, and it makes no sense to go online simply to do the same thing. For starters, most of the developers are loosing $10-$15 of a $39 sale just to sell the product... between advertizing, web stores, credit cards, labor, etc. Also, most users aren't quite into the whole surf the web for updates all the time like Diggers are... and even I don't like passing my credit card off too many places.. I'd rather pay cash, and not worry about downloads.
danisseDec 20, 2006
All the whining about MacHeist is making me not want to buy anything from MacSanta. Kee-rist, people.
michaeldupuisDec 21, 2006
The site now lists 100 developers and over 200 applications. Quite impressive, and an interesting overview of some great mac apps.