In a nutshell, MacHeist is a great software initiative that, as far as I can tell, successfully does three things:
- Raises money for a variety of excellent charities
- Gives otherwise unknown developers a moment in the spotlight
- Offers users an incredible set of programs for a single, deeply discounted price
The question this raises year after year is: Does partaking in MacHeist make you a cheap bastard?
The MacHeist bundle is an oft-rebuked concept year after year. Its critics say that it’s unfair to the developers who offer up their hard work for a mere fraction of the normal selling price. Case in point: the value of this years bundle, when fully unlocked, is $950 and sells for “the insanely low price of $39″. I’m not a software developer and I don’t profess to know the payment structure of a participating MacHeist dev, but if I had a product that I stood behind I would be happy to give it such widespread exposure and help worthy causes in the process. Hell, open source software developers are often hailed as modern-day Robin Hoods for giving away their hard work for free.
Some folks, however, seem to be downright opposed to the idea of anyone scoring such a massive deal on a software bundle. Take Simone Manganelli, for example, who has waxed intellectual on the subject of MacHeist since it’s inception. He goes on to end his long diatribe with the following line:
If you’re buying MacHeist, you’re a cheap fucking bastard, and it makes me queasy that so many in the Mac community would buy into such a thing. Source →
His justification for all the cursing is that the participating devs only receive a very small piece of the proverbial pie. He goes on to liken MacHeist to a record label and the devs as its rockstars:
Put it this way: would you rather pay $10 to Universal Music Group for a music album, or $15 directly to the band in question?
The problem with this argument is that people are buying the software via this promotion because of the huge discount. Keeping with the theme of music, it’s akin to buying a ticket for a huge summer music festival with a glut of bands. To see each band individually, you’d pay well over the price of a single festival ticket, and it could very well end up being a less satisfying experience. The reason bands participate in these festivals is the same reason the developers participate in MacHeist: because they realize it’s not always about the money but the exposure.
I’ve been a Mac user for close to a decade now and until I checked out the MacHeist offer I’d never heard of five out of the twelve programs offered. Guess what? Now that I see them, I’ve found a few that fill a gap in my software collection or consolidate a previously lengthy workflow. If I choose to purchase the MacHeist bundle, I’ll get access to a variety of great programs and support for the current point version. That is to say: If I buy a version 1.0 app, I’ll mostly likely receive updates and support until the developer moves to version 2.0. If I was satisfied with the capabilities of the program and wanted to continue using it, I would gladly pay the upgrade fee and continue supporting the developer directly.
In the end, I don’t think anyone in their right mind could pass up the chance to get such a variety of excellent software at such a reasonable price. If Best Buy marked a $900 TV down to $39, you can bet your ass people would flock to it like moths to a flame. Further, I highly doubt there’d be any naysayers complaining that it’s not fair to Sony or Samsung that people are getting such a good deal (except, of course, Sony or Samsung).
Post a Comment