WOULD MACROMEDIA GIVE ITS SOFTWARE AWAY?

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 2003 @ 01:50 PM

On last week's issue of eWeek, Jim Rapoza writes about "abandonware", and indirectly invites Macromedia to give away old versions of its software.

From a marketing stand-point, would it be a good idea for a software company to distribute old versions of their software for free? I would think so. Such a move could create awareness-of and potential demand for current releases, not to mention a closer relation with prospective consumers.

This equally applicable for other industries, or at least is what the MIT believes. OpenCourseWare is an MIT's initiative to freely share course materials with any Internet user. Although it is still a pilot, the list of courses is certainly impressive, not only for the number, but the quality of materials and expositors.

I'm still looking for examples of software companies showing that sharing their outdated applications can pay off. In the meantime, what do you think?

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NICK

SEPTEMBER 21 2003 @ 07:34 PM

Giving or selling cheaply older versions of software is a spectacular idea...and one a company called Serif (based in the UK but has a site in NH USA) has been doing for quite a while. It certainly got me hooked! I got an older version of PagePlus (basically Pagemaker) for just a $2.95 p&p charge! I recently upgraded the the latest PagePlus version AND bought 4 of their other programmes! All because they offered the old version for free and I could try it. Their main site is www.serif.com; the free/older-versions site is www.freeserifsoftware.com

JIM

SEPTEMBER 21 2003 @ 09:11 PM

I got free software for faxing and have since bought five upgrades. Several times a year I receive offerings of software and all I have to do is pay for postage.
Getting one piece of software leads to others in the family. (I got the virus checker free and later paid for the firewall.)
My digital camera had a consumer version of free software and I have upgraded.
In summary - it is a no risk way for a consumer to try out the software. (The consumers's cost is in the learing curve and it is steep) Today in the states, there can be a 15% restocking fee if the SW packaging is broken.

BOB

SEPTEMBER 21 2003 @ 09:46 PM

I am another one of those 'hooked' by Serif. You just get the software for the cost shipping, but it comes unboxed and without instructions. I have a ball figuring out how to use them! But, when my budget allows, I will be buying some of their latest versions.

Family Tree Maker does the same with the file to view their CDs and includes just enough of the actual program to hook you. I got the freebie and bought the latest version from them.

PAUL

SEPTEMBER 22 2003 @ 08:28 AM

I have long been of the view that Microsoft in particular could use this. They complain bitterly about pirating but over a period drop support for older versions of Windows and Office to name but two common ones. Fine, but not everyone has money to burn upgrading or buying new, which aggravates the pirating problems. But if they gave away their older versions with all updates to the end of life it would at least tend to ease their pirating problems, and functionally the 95 versions are as good as XP.

JOHN DOWDELL

SEPTEMBER 22 2003 @ 09:53 AM

Thanks for the link, Oscar. One thing I started wondering about since reading the article yesterday would be the effect it would have on total software diversity... if the market leader in an area flooded the zone, whether that would reduce overall competition in that area.

(A few years ago there was a lot of business presentation software, for instance... Aldus Persuasion, Macromedia Action, more... this area dried up when Powerpoint was bundled in with the word-processor... spreadsheets have dried up too since that flood-the-zone... Netscape's original plan was to sell the browser... if old versions were given away, what would happen to total diversity in that area?)

ANDY MAKELY

SEPTEMBER 22 2003 @ 09:56 AM

One thing about giving away older software: it builds up your developer base. Many people want to learn Flash, but simply can't afford the program. The 30-day trial doesn't help you, because you can't become proficient in that short time period. Giving Flash 5 away, for example, would allow more people to learn the basics. This expands your user base, and leads to wider acceptance of the product line in general, which is never a bad thing.

I would think that it would also make people less likely to pirate the CURRENT versions. The 3D software companies have already taken this to heart, and offer "learning editions" of their software, such as Maya fof free download.

OSCAR TRELLES

SEPTEMBER 22 2003 @ 01:21 PM

I haven't thought on that possibility, John, but I would think that Macromedia's competitors in the HTML editors market would follow, if Macromedia gave away copies of Dreamweaver 4, for example. Who's there? Abode (GoLive), Microsoft (Frontpage, already bundled in Office), who else?... I really think DW is leader in that particular portion of the software market, so what is to risk? If DW MX 2004 wasn't clearly superior, then you'd got a problem.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember Sonic Foundry [1] used to offer older versions of Acid and SoundForge for free. I am a happy user of SounForge 5.0, and the reason we haven't upgraded to version 6 is lack of significant improvements. The company is waiting for the next wave.

[1] http://www.sonicfoundry.com/

BROWSERBOB

SEPTEMBER 23 2003 @ 08:48 AM

Hi there,

while BrowserBob is the market leader for browser customization tools - (browser skinning and completely customizable IE based web applications) we are doing the same thing, we give away our old versions as freeware. It takes some time until people upgrade and buy a new one, as the older versions are already very powerful. But it seems to work anyway, people ask for features, they find it in the newer commercial versions, try for 30 days and then buy. You are invited to do the same, we are still offering our version 1.2 for free, and newest version 2.0 as 30 day fully featured trial. Have fun!

http://www.browserbob.com

and http://www.browserbob.com/Version12_for_free.html

Have fun trying - it's new and unique on the market...