Twenty dollars in an envelope
justinjackson.ca
Twenty dollars in an envelope
1–10 of 92 posts
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#2I'd be interested in hearing more shareware stories. Did anyone else here have success selling shareware in the 80's and 90's?
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#3While the story is lovely, it's also quaint to think of the days when a young kid put his home address on the internet and bad things didn't happen.
Also, this is another "right time right place" story - his code wasn't just good, it was one of the few solutions at the time. Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#4While the story is lovely, it's also quaint to think of the days when a young kid put his home address on the internet and bad things didn't happen. Also, this is another "right time right place" story - his code wasn't just good, it was one of the few solutions at the time. Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same.
Forget bad things - it's quaint to think of the days where asking someone nicely to pay you if they like your product actually worked, to the tune of 5-figures.
Nowadays you'd just get some kids on the internet explaining how them using your product for free is doing you a favor, "exposure" and the such.
> "Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same."
Isn't that besides the point? The point seems to be that there is always an ache that needs to be filled - often not needing a great deal of technical ability, just product insight.
If he came around a few years later, there'd be just as many things computer users wanted solved.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#5While the story is lovely, it's also quaint to think of the days when a young kid put his home address on the internet and bad things didn't happen. Also, this is another "right time right place" story - his code wasn't just good, it was one of the few solutions at the time. Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same.
I'm not sure. I know some niche's are pretty well covered with offerings, but I'm always surprised at how bad products can be once you wander a little off the reservation, like a music organization app. I bet if you looked into that space right now you'd find that there's still some room available for something creative.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#6While the story is lovely, it's also quaint to think of the days when a young kid put his home address on the internet and bad things didn't happen. Also, this is another "right time right place" story - his code wasn't just good, it was one of the few solutions at the time. Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same.
Forget bad things - it's quaint to think of the days where asking someone nicely to pay you if they like your product actually worked , to the tune of 5-figures. Nowadays you'd just get some kids on the internet explaining how them using your product for free is doing you a favor, "exposure" and the such. > "Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same." Isn't that beside…
Let me introduce you to Amanda Palmer - The Art of Asking: http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking.htm...
She got money to the tune of 6-figures by asking people to buy her music if they liked it.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#7While the story is lovely, it's also quaint to think of the days when a young kid put his home address on the internet and bad things didn't happen. Also, this is another "right time right place" story - his code wasn't just good, it was one of the few solutions at the time. Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same.
Forget bad things - it's quaint to think of the days where asking someone nicely to pay you if they like your product actually worked , to the tune of 5-figures. Nowadays you'd just get some kids on the internet explaining how them using your product for free is doing you a favor, "exposure" and the such. > "Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same." Isn't that beside…
Honestly, I doubt that much has changed except that there are more kids online. It's always been the adults who primarily paid for stuff. Even back then, there were probably lots of kids who used his software for free.
Take home message: if you want to build consumer products and make money, target adults, not teenagers.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#8While the story is lovely, it's also quaint to think of the days when a young kid put his home address on the internet and bad things didn't happen. Also, this is another "right time right place" story - his code wasn't just good, it was one of the few solutions at the time. Had he tried to do it a few years after that, I doubt the results would have been the same.
Maybe you are right, but in the "business to business" world it is still as the old times, businesses are going to pay $20 per month if you provide some real value.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#9I'd be interested in hearing more shareware stories. Did anyone else here have success selling shareware in the 80's and 90's?
I don't know about selling, but I had a hobby project, my first in Pascal, that would translate ProBoard (ProBBS, or a PcBoard door program that did fancy things) to and from RBBS (the other open source board software). I uploaded it to a couple of boards, some of which were FidoNet connected. Anyway, a few months later got a call I think from someone somewhere in the Navy that wanted to use it, and asked if I had any improvements planned. I didn't as I had already moved on to other things (probably Lemmings), but let them know they were free to use it as they see fit. As an 8 or 9 year old kid, I was amazed at the reach of technology, so it was very encouraging, and helped me to pursue a career in IT.
Re: Twenty dollars in an envelope
#10People are happy to pay for things that are good. Don’t be afraid to charge for your services.
"would pay", 5,200 results
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22would+pay%22+site:news.yc...
"wouldn't pay", 38,000 results
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22wouldn%27t+pay%22+site:ne...
(OK, so it's kind of a joke response, but the abundance of free software and services has really driven down the expectations around reasonable payment compared to box software's heyday, even for software developers themselves).