Re: [OT] time-limited demos, selling software etc.
Re: [OT] time-limited demos, selling software etc.
- Subject: Re: [OT] time-limited demos, selling software etc.
- From: "X. J. Scott" <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:17:33 -0400
Hi os,
I'll answer as a *consumer* as to what has worked for me...
>
I'd also be interested to know which of the following people think
>
works best:
>
- date-limited demo (e.g. works for two weeks then dies)
I never end up registering these. What happens is I try it once or twice,
which is enough time to get a vague idea of its properties. Then a few
months later, I have a project where I realize that that program would
possibly be of help. I double-click and it tells me its expired! But I've
only used it for 10 minutes total so far! I just figure, what the heck and
never mess with the thing again. There is no time to fall in love with teh
product.
>
- time-limited demo (e.g. works for 10 minutes every time you run it)
10 minutes is way too short. However, I have bought one program that had a
30 minute limit and was save disabled and disabled against looading other
than sample files. The 30 minutes was enough time to get some useful work
done and realize that I wanted to buy the program.
>
- crippled demo (some features disabled)
Save/load disabled - I have bought several programs, a few quite expensive,
after playing with a demo that was fully functional except for save/load
disabling.
>
- unusable demo (e.g. audio cut-out every 10 seconds)
There are a half-dozen ones that I am sort of interested in but have not
gotten that have audio cut out or light noise every minute. I like that I
can at least save and load files, but these programs aren't compelling and
stable enough as it happens for me to want to buy them. They still seem like
beta software. Nothing to do with the cut-out vs other crippling. Every 10
seconds would make me really irritable.
>
- nagware demo (fully featured but with an annoying splash screen, like
>
Graphic Converter)
I've bought several of these, system utilities mainly. But all the ones i've
bought are ones that only nag occasionally. The ones that nag all the time
I delete before I get a chance to really learn about them or like them.
Now to say the absolute worst ever, something that really really ticks me
off no end - I recently downloaded a very superb classic synth emulator that
amazed me because I have that synth and it sounded EXACTLY like the
original. After using it for 2 hrs of TOTAL use (ie over 2 or 3 launches),
the plugin ramps the noise level up until it is absolutely full throttle all
the time and utterly completely unusable. Restarting doesn't help. So now i
have an EXTREMELY negative association in my mind and am disgusted by the
product and want nothing to do with it. (It's developers are on this list -
hi guys, please get a clue!) If they hadn't gone to such trouble to irritate
the hell out of me, I would have bought the plugin no question since it
would be extremely great to have my classic synth's controls sequencable.
But their practice makes me question the judgement of their entire company
and just be angry with them. This is the only case where a software I was so
otherwise impressed with I have not bought. I feel like that noise is raping
me.
- Jeff
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