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diff --git a/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2006/12.18.06/Wed/delicious.txt b/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2006/12.18.06/Wed/delicious.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d258168 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2006/12.18.06/Wed/delicious.txt @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +My article on the MacHeist app bundle experiment was [published][2] on Wired earlier today and since Monkey Bites readers are the inquiring sort, we thought we'd post some more of the developer feedback we received.
After the jump is the full text of an email interview with Wil Shipley, "Chief Monster" at Delicious Monster Software maker of the popular Mac application [Delicious Monster][1], which was part of the MacHeist Shareware bundle.
<b>There's was some negative reaction to MacHeist's profits versus that of developers, do you feel cheated at all?</b>
I don't feel "cheated," since I knew exactly what the terms of the deal were going in -- I agreed to a fixed amount so they could include my software in a bundle for a week.
The point that most of the detractors are ignoring is that none of us knew how successful the bundle would be -- not the developers, not the guys at MacHeist. They were taking as much of a risk as we were -- if all of their site's visitors had said, "Nice site, but I'm not interested in the bundle" then they would still have been liable to pay all of us developers a fixed amount. There was simply no way to accurately guess how many of the people who were on the MacHeist site might decide to buy the bundle at the end of the game. We were all gambling.
Now, in fact the bundle was enormously successful, more than any of us had ever thought, so MacHeist made a killing. I guess I could whine about this, but such is the nature of gambles -- they assumed more of the risk, and as such they got the bigger payoff when the jackpot hit. Plus, MacHeist actually decided to double what they are paying us developers after it hit so big.
Sure, it twinges a little to think they made something like half a million dollars in two months, but that's largely just jealousy. My reasoning behind agreeing to be in the bundle was pretty straightforward: the first version of Delicious Library has been out for over a year, and so it doesn't get covered a lot in the press -- nobody wants to review a product that is considered "old", and have everyone say, "Dude, I've been using that since, like, your mom used to ride her dinosaur to school!" Exposure is much harder to get at this point, so bundles and sales and other kinds of events are much more attractive to me.
If Phil had come up to me next year sometimes after Delicious Library 2 had shipped and offered me the same bundle -- well, he would have been turned down. But at this point what I have from the bundle is: (a) a pile of cash, (b) a ton of exposure, (c) a week of increased non-bundle sales from said exposure, and (d) 16,821 new customers who might potentially upgrade to 2.0 or recommend 1.0 to their friends.
My philosophy on software sales has always been, if I could GIVE my software to half the people in the world, and they would recommend it to the other half and they all would buy it, I'd be the richest guy who ever lived. The problem with that abstract theory is somehow figuring out how to divide the computer users of the world in half, because if you accidentally give your software to EVERYONE in the world you're boned. This bundle offered the opportunity to get my software into the hands of what I believe to be connected Mac users, at a steep discount for them.
<b>Would you do it again?</b>
If there's ever a MacHeist 2 or similar bundle, I'll certainly consider participating (depending on how long Delicious Library 2 or Delicious Interiors has been out, or whatever), but I'm going to ask for a lot more money. The MacHeist team is a victim of their own success here -- now that everyone in the world KNOWS how popular their bundles are, we KNOW that they aren't taking that much risk, and so the risk/reward calculation is different the second time, and we'll all ask for a bigger slice. C'est la vie!
[1]: http://www.delicious-monster.com/ "Delicious Monster"
[2]: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/software/0,72333-0.html?tw=wn_index_1 "MacHeist Is a Bundle of Joy"
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