Comments on: What Kind of Software Would People Actually Pay For?

By: Freemium Isn’t A Business Model, It’s A Marketing And Trust Strategy » What’s In Peter’s Head

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:06:06 +0000

[...] chimed in once or twice on the free vs. paid debate, and I’m firmly in the camp that you should charge [...]

By: digital streams

digital streams — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:39:37 +0000

[...] is because in the digital world, advertising, the only real revenue stream, cannot support a smalhttp://www.pchristensen.com/blog/articles/what-kind-of-software-would-people-actually-pay-for/How to sign digital streams – Patent 6009176A method of signing digital streams so that a receiver [...]

By: kerrangster

kerrangster — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:55:54 +0000

Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, IntellijIDEA, Rapid SQL, TextMate, OmniWeb, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, LispWorks, Microsoft Visual Studio 2003/2005/2008, Rogue Wave Software, and OmniOutliner just to name a few.

It’s a never ending battle between the zero cost solution, and paying for it. There seems to be enough individuals willing to pay for software because the companies that charge are in business. What are the individuals not willing to pay for software not getting that the individuals who pay are getting from the software? Productivity?

At home, I just don’t have the budget; therefore, I need to look for a zero cost solution. These are just some of my thoughts.

By: Notional Slurry » links for 2008-05-19

Notional Slurry » links for 2008-05-19 — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:35:18 +0000

[...] What Kind of Software Would People Actually Pay For? » What’s In Peter’s Head (tags: article business entrepreneurship marketing business-model economics) [...]

By: Daniel Weinreb

Daniel Weinreb — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:47:05 +0000

I agree with the vast majority of what you say here. I do have a few comments, though.

Gee, I’m an angel investor (www.commonangels.com), sort of like a mini-VC, and we never, ever fund a company that does not have a plausible business plan. Well, maybe the big VC’s can take that kind of chance.

Not everything that can be “digitized” can be copied. Software-As-A-Service isn’t distributed; it lives on the company servers.

Believe me, there are lots and lots of ways to make profitable software-based companies. Most of our portfolio companies are based on software technology, although they aren’t necessarily “hi, we sell this software” business models. If you like being a software hacker and want to play a key role in a startup company, there are plenty of opportunities. Only some categories of software tend to be available for free. And there are all kinds of cool products that have sophisticated embedded software. I’d advise people to avoid going for the huge markets, since the huge companies will spend lots of resources to own those areas. There are plenty of markets too small for Microsoft or Oracle to even think about, but plenty big enough to make you feel that you’ve done something that really matters, not to mention that you can make money at it.

It all keeps me busy enough that I never get to go scuba diving any more, sigh.

By: Music Operates Directly On Your Abstract Syntax Tree » What’s In Peter’s Head

Fri, 09 May 2008 20:24:42 +0000

[...] mentioned music in each of the last two posts as a digitizable creation that people enjoy enough to pay for. So what is it about music that [...]

By: The Value is in the Experience » What’s In Peter’s Head

The Value is in the Experience » What’s In Peter’s Head — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:57:42 +0000

[...] had great fun writing my last article “What Kind of Software Would People Actually Pay For?” because it helped me flesh out a lot of the ideas that had been swimming around in my head [...]

By: links for 2008-05-06 | IndianGeek

links for 2008-05-06 | IndianGeek — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:33:09 +0000

[...] What Kind of Software Would People Actually Pay For? » What’s In Peter’s Head (tags: business software entrepreneur marketing) Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

By: Kun Xi

Kun Xi — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:56:47 +0000

I do believe Shareware would die in Windows platform.

1. Free online Web 2.0 applications
2. Open source software

Maybe you could try Mac, the Mac users are rich, and the community has the tradition to be charged by Shareware.

By: Mike H.

Mike H. — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:30:50 +0000

Some good examples of such programs that fall into your categories:

Trillian Pro
ConvertXtoDVD
Norton Ghost
TuneUp Utilities
games off of Steam