[summarized in next message by JimH]
Well, I'll say it again: If I spend my hard-earned money on MJ, I expect to be able to install and run it at anytime, any number of times. I don't want to deal with some strict restore policy. I'm still on the fence regarding purchasing for the first time, and whether or not I do will depend on this one factor. I've thought it over, and it doesn't matter if the cost is $25 or $45, I'd still want complete freedom in my number of installs. Simply put: If I buy it, I don't want to feel like I'm just "borrowing" it, or renting the program from J River. I want to feel like a consumer, in that my money was spent, and I got something I can keep forever- no matter how many times I rebuild my PC, no matter how many different internet providers I go through, no matter if the company goes out of business, no matter if the internet disappears completely. I want to be able to load it up, and use a full-functional program that I paid for, without any worry about how many more restores I have left, or things like that.
Copy protection is obviously important, but I'll say it again: When you make the honest customers go through hell and suffer crippling limitations just to evade the pirates, you're punishing the just for the actions of the unjust. The pirates will still exist, the ripoff copies will still be out there, and your customers will be frustrated by your program. To me, that sounds like a lose/lose situation. Personally, I'd rather lose some copies to pirates and have happy paying customers than lose slightly fewer copies to pirates, and have a bunch of ticked-off customers.
I mean, look at me. I found a suspicious copy, and as soon as I figured it out, I came here and downloaded a legit version, and posted news of my bogus discovery in these boards. I went a couple extra steps to be honest, and to show some respect to the creators of what I feel is a superior product. For you to turn around and say "That's great, fella. Now give us money and we'll let you use the product, but only under the strictest of guidelines, and only a limited number of times before you'll have to purchase it again" is sort of unfair. If I show my support by making a purchase, you at least owe me the same courtesy most other software designers show: Let me OWN the thing I purchased, with no strings except the EULA and perhaps some registration and a single, personalized, unrestricted registration key. When I buy The Sims, or Medal of Honor, or most other titles, the key works every time, without limits, without restrictions save for those outlined in the EULA.
Basically, by making the process restrictive, you're telling your honest customers you like their money, but don't really trust them. All it says to pirates is "Hey! Look! A challenge!"
Thus in the end, ironically enough, the pirates are the ones with the unrestricted version (because they always eventually crack things), and the paying customers don't have any such freedom.
Just consider these things before going crazy with the registration scheme. I'm set to buy this thing, but I'm not going to keep throwing money in any endless pit, just to get the same item to remain functional.
To end, I'll use an analogy: If I buy a bicycle, I get a bicycle. I can take it out of the garage at any time and use it... No matter how long it's been since I last used it, I don't have to pay for the bike again! Even if I tear down my garage and rebuild it, I don't have to pay for the bike again. When the bike company releases a newer, better set of wheels for the bike, I have the option to buy them for a cost that's likely LESS than the bike itself. If I buy those wheels, there's no limit to how many times I can put them on my bike, or replace them with the old wheels. It's my choice, because I paid for them.
When some guy steals a bike from the manufacturer's factory, they don't tell all future bike purchasers that from now on, they can only remove their wheels up to 12 times, after which they must pay to do it another dozen times. Why restrict the people who BUY the product? Instead, make it harder for thieves to get INTO the factory.
In other words, the free download should only be whatever you're willing to let pirates play with. The purchased version should be inaccessible unless a customer has paid for it, and it should be PERSONALIZED. Like a bike, it should have something akin to a serial number. When you find that there are 100 Bob Johnsons with the same serial number all entering the paying customer website, you crack down on THEM. Not the single Jim Peterson with a unique, uncopied serial number. He hasn't allowed anyone to copy his, so why should he be punished?
He shouldn't. Bob Johnson should, though.
I know I've droned on a bit, and maybe been a bit redundant, but my point should be clear by now. You're severely limiting your audience if you make registration and activation a limited thing. What I pay for should really be mine, with only one restriction: The EULA.
`Just my deep thoughts on the subject. Thanks for reading, and SORRY if it was too long. I'd hate to make anyone read more than usual.
-ZC
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Topic: Version 8 Customers Will Have to Pay for Version 9???!! (Read 13582 times)