mwexler
01-10-2003, 05:23 AM
Please read with a touch of humour (and whininess), and a touch of hurt:
Ok, its easy to complain when I can't program... and they can. If I could do what they do, I might want to charge for it also.
But I can remember not too long ago when people delighted in sharing their efforts to make the pocket pc a better platform. Folks gave away games, tools, utilities, whatever. Check out Pocketgamer.org archives and see all the games folks shared.
And now I look around at pocketgamer.org, or handango, and I am amazed that folks would dare to charge for some of these dinky games and useless tools. (ok, overreaction, they aren't daring, sorry bout that). (And yes, no question about it: its their right, morally and legally, no argument there.)
It seems even sillier to just low-ball the price. I mean, come on, if the game is only $1.99, then is it even worth charging for it? You aren't doing it to make any money; your time cost more than that. Either charge what you think its worth to the market... or just give it away instead of nickel and diming, so to speak (with inflation, thats about all $1.99 is worth these days)
Look around the Palm world: tons of great freeware. And yes, you can go to http://www.freewareppc.com/ and see some great stuff still (and lots of popups). But when I see former freeware now being charged for, or games that I wouldn't have installed for free now being charged for, I guess I feel that we've lost something.
The economy sucks, and we all need some extra cash to feed our tech habit, uh, hobby. And yes, if someone spends hours of his or her life doing this, then its their right to charge for it. And perhaps I am being selfish when I say all this... but still... do some of you feel sort of nickel and dimed?
Its not like "all software needs to be open and free" (though some think so). I am more than willing to pay for major programming efforts like argentum, age of empires, or task managers or Calligrapher. Some of these are fairly priced (IMHO), and others aren't. I am not against all charges for software, even from independents, even from hobbyists... but I do feel that some games, some tools, just aren't worth the money being asked, and that last year, the programmer wouldn't have dreamed of charging for it.
I know I will get attacked for this, and in some ways, I will agree with the folks saying that this is immature, greedy, and selfish. But I still miss those days of yore, and when I whip onto sourceforge for linux work, or pull down another useful freeware tool for my treo, I stare wistfully at the Dell Axim and wonder if those days may come again for the pocket pc.
Please don't pick on any one product and say "that's a ripoff", but if you agree or not, I would be curious to hear others' thoughts on this.
Just one man's opinion,
Michael
ps: don't hate me. This really was a momentary lapse of judgement. And yes, I did break down and I spent $1.99 for a game. I felt a bit odd (see above), but it was absolutely the right thing to do: Pay for your software if its being charged for!
Ok, its easy to complain when I can't program... and they can. If I could do what they do, I might want to charge for it also.
But I can remember not too long ago when people delighted in sharing their efforts to make the pocket pc a better platform. Folks gave away games, tools, utilities, whatever. Check out Pocketgamer.org archives and see all the games folks shared.
And now I look around at pocketgamer.org, or handango, and I am amazed that folks would dare to charge for some of these dinky games and useless tools. (ok, overreaction, they aren't daring, sorry bout that). (And yes, no question about it: its their right, morally and legally, no argument there.)
It seems even sillier to just low-ball the price. I mean, come on, if the game is only $1.99, then is it even worth charging for it? You aren't doing it to make any money; your time cost more than that. Either charge what you think its worth to the market... or just give it away instead of nickel and diming, so to speak (with inflation, thats about all $1.99 is worth these days)
Look around the Palm world: tons of great freeware. And yes, you can go to http://www.freewareppc.com/ and see some great stuff still (and lots of popups). But when I see former freeware now being charged for, or games that I wouldn't have installed for free now being charged for, I guess I feel that we've lost something.
The economy sucks, and we all need some extra cash to feed our tech habit, uh, hobby. And yes, if someone spends hours of his or her life doing this, then its their right to charge for it. And perhaps I am being selfish when I say all this... but still... do some of you feel sort of nickel and dimed?
Its not like "all software needs to be open and free" (though some think so). I am more than willing to pay for major programming efforts like argentum, age of empires, or task managers or Calligrapher. Some of these are fairly priced (IMHO), and others aren't. I am not against all charges for software, even from independents, even from hobbyists... but I do feel that some games, some tools, just aren't worth the money being asked, and that last year, the programmer wouldn't have dreamed of charging for it.
I know I will get attacked for this, and in some ways, I will agree with the folks saying that this is immature, greedy, and selfish. But I still miss those days of yore, and when I whip onto sourceforge for linux work, or pull down another useful freeware tool for my treo, I stare wistfully at the Dell Axim and wonder if those days may come again for the pocket pc.
Please don't pick on any one product and say "that's a ripoff", but if you agree or not, I would be curious to hear others' thoughts on this.
Just one man's opinion,
Michael
ps: don't hate me. This really was a momentary lapse of judgement. And yes, I did break down and I spent $1.99 for a game. I felt a bit odd (see above), but it was absolutely the right thing to do: Pay for your software if its being charged for!