11–20 of 43 posts
Not sure when the ads and IAPs were added. I bought a new Windows 8.1 machine a month or so ago and the version in the Store already included the IAP prompt.
This is what drove me to GNU/Linux. Was OS X user, saw how Apple censors GPL software from App Store, and saw 8-year-old kid with iPod touch getting his allowance stolen by a solitaire iOS game that charged him real money to cheat when he got stuck (which you can do with real cards, obviously) while advertising at him to eat at McDonald's. I decided I couldn't trust Apple anymore, and no way would I trust Microsoft.…
I think that a lot of traditional users just want to buy something that does what they want without being nagged for further paytments. That is why thousands of people bought MS Office for normal domestic use. It was expensive but they bought it anyway. Now all they get is an invitation to an app store or a monthly payment plan. It is like selling a toy without batteries included.
Strangely Ubuntu feels like a premium product in comparison. It comes with lots of good software pre-installed that just work. The app store is filled with high quality free software with no spam or malware in sight. A lot peripherals will just work without having to install new drivers. In comparison Windows feels cheap and tacky.
Microsoft should sell Windows with Office bundled and make it expensive ($200+). Include a collection of high quality free software to get people started and emphasise content purchases instead of apps.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah because software is free to maintain and develop. You can be disappointed if they make you pay for what was previously free but saying it's extortion to make people pay for software isn't very considerate to all of us who make a living of writing software, isn't it?
I work in the games industry. A lot of the freemium models are absolutely extortion. Some of the worst ones explicitly target children and gambling addicts to maximize profits on vulnerable people or abuse the family's card details. When done right, Freemium is a fantastic model which can not only generate more revenue to the company (both short and long term), but is also more enjoyable and a more fun experience for…
I find it the contrary. It's a rare sight to find a modern non-indie mobile game that you can pay for and get a version that's completely free of advertisement, phoning-home analytics and other stuff I don't want, except for an actual game.
(Returning to article in question, Microsoft is actually the worst case imaginable. You don't pay to remove ads once, but subscribe for ad-free experience.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in the games industry. A lot of the freemium models are absolutely extortion. Some of the worst ones explicitly target children and gambling addicts to maximize profits on vulnerable people or abuse the family's card details. When done right, Freemium is a fantastic model which can not only generate more revenue to the company (both short and long term), but is also more enjoyable and a more fun experience for…
>but is also more enjoyable and a more fun experience for the user. It's hard not to be sarcastic about this topic, but I honestly want to know which game is more fun freemium than pay once?
To be fair to Microsoft, you used to have to pay for Solitaire to get your free copy of Windows, now they've unbundled it you can get Windows 10 for free without having to buy Solitaire.