Though, your "except for games" addition there also points to the fact that the efficient way to get people to pay for software before mobile app stores was gam

Though, your "except for games" addition there also points to the fact that the efficient way to get people to pay for software before mobile app stores was games as well, on walled gardens from Nintendo or Atari. It's the old Gabe Newell line about piracy being a service problem. If you make paying for something so much harder than not paying for it people will either pirate it or just not use it at all.