andym@crash.cts.com (Andy Micone) (03/04/88)
In article <1438@looking.UUCP> brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes: >In article <182@wsccs.UUCP> terry@wsccs.UUCP writes: >> I recently (well, last comdex) met the guy who wrote PC-WRITE... >>he's making gobs of money > >I'm tired of hearing this. That company is the most prosperous of a group >that you can count on your fingers. The other 20,000 "shareware" programs >have all been dismal financial failures that haven't returned anything, >and certainly not something similar to what the author would have made >as a programmer or consultant in regular employment. May I point something out here...discounting the throw-away Shareware programs (i.e. The ones you download and never use again which are by default labelled "send money") the risks in marketing legitimite shareware seem to fare equally with any other individual entreprenurial venture. The failure rate in small buisnesses, for example, is by SBA statistics 90%. Given that a shareware author is basically running a small business, its not surprising that the failure rate for such ventures is so high. But then again, I wouldn't sell any of MY programs shareware...but realistically I don't believe that it is as bad as most people make it out, Shareware really is a viable alternative for those who don't have the capital to handle distribution properly. andym@crash.CTS.COM UUCP: ..!sdcsvax!crash!andym