MacHeist bundle

[Khadrelt]

In case any of the Mac users here are interested and haven't already heard, there's a nice promo going on at http://www.macheist.com/. $150 worth of apps for free, can't get much better than that. It's only going to be on for 2 or 3 more days.

[vinylrake]

couple of nifty apps in there too. the app that takes a screencap and posts it on the web in one step (with no manual save, rename or file upload) is amazingly simple. the organizer app looks interesting too - just trying it out.

[killerking]

I'm downloading some of those programs now, and I'm asking myself: Why do they give them away for free???

[vinylrake]

I'm downloading some of those programs now, and I'm asking myself: Why do they give them away for free???

It's an advertising thang. MacHeist works with (usually independant/small) software developers to create a bundle of reduced software titles a couple?few? times a year. Usually the packages have some kind of contest/search with one or two freebies and several greatly reduced packages as rewards - usually like one app a day or something similar. Often there is a max# of free registrations they have to distribute, so the #s go to the first people to solve the puzzle/contest each day (by first 'people' I meant the first hundreds/thousands - not a single person). Sometimes the versions are just about to be upgraded so developers give (or discount) the version that's just about to be replaced hoping you'll love the app so much you'll want the shiny version. Not sure why they are all free this time unless it's just a lot easier to give stuff away rather than MacHeist having to keep track of registrations and tech support and other related headaches (normally people register at MacHeist and enter their contest codes/answers and MacHeist handles the distribution of serial#s - giving things away for free makes the serial#/tech support issue completely go away).

[haravikk]

Sometimes word-of-mouth can be more valuable than paid advertising; by letting apps be given away for free for a while, you can generate interest from new people as well who will pay to get the same useful features they've seen or heard their friends talking about.

I dunno if that's the idea in this case, none of the apps particularly interest me; I sometimes get these bundles but usually just for one or two apps, the rest sit unused.

[Point]

did they give out the serial key to marinar write?

[vinylrake]

did they give out the serial key to marinar write?

if that was one of the main bundle apps and you registered and downloaded the software you were supposed to get an email with all the serial#s - either that or you logged onto their site and they showed you a page with the serial#s - at least that's how they've done it in the past.

[Khadrelt]

Yes, they unlocked it even though they didn't reach the goal.