4 ms·

software has been sold to individuals and businesses alike for decades now, the things that have changed the equation here are: - download site

by ido 16y ago

software has been sold to individuals and businesses alike for decades now, the things that have changed the equation here are: - download sites for PC software - open source - massive piracy How are those (except for open source) new? Piracy has always been massive, in the past even more than it is today. Do you know anyone who actually payed for any piece of c64/atari 8-bit software? And for a long time the first place to get software from (particularly games) were BBSs. In these times of Steam, App Store(s) & easy on-line purchases via the likes of Paypal I expect people actually buy software a lot more often than in the 80s or 90s.

jacquesm 16y ago
The internet has changed the piracy game completely, copying a cassette tape or ROM was time consuming and required some skill. Download.com and Tucows basically destroyed the shareware movement, barring a few exceptions. The upside is that there are now many more people that are using software so the markets are much larger in potential and the area where the app stores shine are convenience. A few clicks to download and pay for a piece of software is a massive convenience when compared to the hassle that used to be involved in buying licensed software.
- trotsky 16y ago
  The internet has changed the piracy game completely Eh, were you actually around then? Copying floppy disks was generally just as easy as anything else, and the skill level of the average computer user was much, much higher. Based on my experience I'd say piracy per capita was nearly 100% in the 80's. These days there are large swaths of computer users who simply don't install anything that isn't pushed at them, let alone browse through TPB. Before the Internet became popular in the mid 90's a large number of BBS's were dedicated to piracy. Keep in mind ASP on software is a fraction of what it once was. In 1983, Lotus 1-2-3 sold for $495. Duplicating the functionality of the $150 Office Home and Student would have been over $1000.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    I actually made pretty good money in the early 80's from programming games and later selling licensed software on the net. Yes, large numbers of BBS's were dedicated to piracy but large numbers of meters of shelf space in retail stores were dedicated to 'boxed' software too.
    - chc 16y ago
      I think trotsky is referring to sneakernet piracy, not the odd BBS. I was very young in the '80s, but I remember all the computer users I knew were extremely liberal in their sharing of programs, the same way that people were with music cassettes. "Oh, I bought this cool game. I think you'll like it. Here, let me make you a copy."
- ido 16y ago
  Maybe the game has changed by the time the 5¼-inch floppy becamse popular - or maybe it was just different where I'm from (Israel) from the Netherlands - but I don't think I've even seen more than maybe 10 pieces of legal, original packed software (except in stores) until the time CDs (which for a while were significantly harder to copy) started replacing floppies.

by ido 16y ago

jacquesm 16y ago

The internet has changed the piracy game completely, copying a cassette tape or ROM was time consuming and required some skill. Download.com and Tucows basically destroyed the shareware movement, barring a few exceptions. The upside is that there are now many more people that are using software so the markets are much larger in potential and the area where the app stores shine are convenience. A few clicks to download and pay for a piece of software is a massive convenience when compared to the hassle that used to be involved in buying licensed software.

trotsky 16y ago
The internet has changed the piracy game completely Eh, were you actually around then? Copying floppy disks was generally just as easy as anything else, and the skill level of the average computer user was much, much higher. Based on my experience I'd say piracy per capita was nearly 100% in the 80's. These days there are large swaths of computer users who simply don't install anything that isn't pushed at them, let alone browse through TPB. Before the Internet became popular in the mid 90's a large number of BBS's were dedicated to piracy. Keep in mind ASP on software is a fraction of what it once was. In 1983, Lotus 1-2-3 sold for $495. Duplicating the functionality of the $150 Office Home and Student would have been over $1000.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  I actually made pretty good money in the early 80's from programming games and later selling licensed software on the net. Yes, large numbers of BBS's were dedicated to piracy but large numbers of meters of shelf space in retail stores were dedicated to 'boxed' software too.
  - chc 16y ago
    I think trotsky is referring to sneakernet piracy, not the odd BBS. I was very young in the '80s, but I remember all the computer users I knew were extremely liberal in their sharing of programs, the same way that people were with music cassettes. "Oh, I bought this cool game. I think you'll like it. Here, let me make you a copy."
ido 16y ago
Maybe the game has changed by the time the 5¼-inch floppy becamse popular - or maybe it was just different where I'm from (Israel) from the Netherlands - but I don't think I've even seen more than maybe 10 pieces of legal, original packed software (except in stores) until the time CDs (which for a while were significantly harder to copy) started replacing floppies.