Shareware turns 20
With the rise of the Internet software available as shareware or freeware has contineued to grow rapidly, according tot his Wall Street Journal story (subscription required), thanks to people like Bob Wallace, one of Microsoft's early employees and the inventor of shareware:
Shareware is 20 years old this month, give or take a week or two, and its durability is a reminder that underneath all the faddishness of technology there are enduring currents that keep the revolution going. In the early 1980s very few folk had a computer, and even if they did, there wasn't much they could do with it -- a bit like buying a sports car with only your backyard to race around in.
...Shareware was all very homespun in those days, and still is for many of the thousands of folk who write and sell software this way. But for many it's also been a lucrative business: Mr. Wallace's company, QuickSoft, was employing 30 people and turning over $2 million a year at its height; 45,000 people had registered to use the software. Jim Knopf quickly found his editing software was making him 10 times what he was earning at International Business Machines Corp. so he quit his day job: His software had 700,000 users at its peak. At shareware's heart was a simple concept: Try the product first and if you like it, pay for it. That payment will also ensure you get upgrades of the product.
...Shareware is an engine of the PC revolution as writers come up with new ideas -- that sometimes get taken up by the industry big boys. Spam blockers? Virus checkers? MP3 players? All of them started out as shareware (or freeware). Indeed, with the exception of the likes of Microsoft, or of programs that are too big to download, most software is now available on a try-before-you-buy basis. There's no better testament to the gentle Bob Wallace.