4 ms·

Many users actually think everything should be free. And they even claim they are 'ripped off' because the free version of software does not do 'X'. And they p

by tlogan 14y ago

Many users actually think everything should be free. And they even claim they are 'ripped off' because the free version of software does not do 'X'. And they post bad reviews and send hate emails. (First hand experience). Somehow, thanks for Facebook and Google, people feel entitled to free software and service.

jiggy2011 14y ago
I actually think we have Piracy to thank for this and perhaps to a lesser extent Open Source. There seems to exist a group of people who feel that piracy isn't just something that you do because you can't afford product X and feel marginally guilty about doing but something that is somehow a fundamental human right in a "people who pay for software are mugs" sort of way.
- thirdsun 14y ago
  Tell me about it - several of my friends who aren't very tech-savvy would nevertheless go to great lengths in order to have someone jailbreak their iPhones - not to escape the walled garden or other greater reasons, but simply because they heard there's free stuff to get. Of course this isn't limited to software as those are the same people that haven't bought an album in years.
  - mgkimsal 14y ago
    Did they go so far as to pay someone to jailbreak for them? Or buy a jailbreak utility?
    - thirdsun 14y ago
      No, they just ask, express their interest and I usually try to explain that it isn't a very good idea to jailbreak - especially if you don't know what you're doing.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    I know someone who jailbroke his iPhone so he didn't have to pay for a $10 navigation app to use to navigate his $40,000 Mercedes.
    - lmm 14y ago
      It's weird what triggers one's aversion to spending money. I had to really struggle with myself to buy the GBP4 app that let my GPB400 tablet do the very thing I bought it for. It feels actually offensive to be asked to pay for internet, though I'll happily pay for overpriced drinks in a place that does "free" internet.
  - mattgreenrocks 14y ago
    There's something very wrong with people who pay $80/mo for a smartphone contract and don't want to pay $1 for an app.
    - mrobataille 14y ago
      It's much harder to circumvent the $80, otherwise they would.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- bnegreve 14y ago
  > Open Source. I actually think this is the opposite. Open source users tend to be more informed and thus more understanding to software issues. They post bug reports and even talk to devs when required. Someone who bought a piece of software will complain until it works as expected.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    Depends on the software, I know plenty of non techy people who use firefox and openoffice and I would bet that the majority of them have no idea at all that the source code is available online. They just think of it as "free beer" which is fine because they are not devs so having the code would be of limited use to them. If open source software crashes on them they would just swear at it in the same way they would proprietary software, it wouldn't occur to them to take a stack trace and file a bug report (I guess this is why firefox offers to do this automatically).
- icebraining 14y ago
  "piracy" is accepting something that is being shared with you.
- Peaker 14y ago
  Some of us believe that copyrights impoverish society, and that paying for copyrighted content is encouraging the draconian copyright regime. I personally use free software, but I'd rather pirate something than encourage copyright-ridden software.
ryanwanger 14y ago
In a support email, someone demanded that we refund his money because our app was a piece of crap. The app has always been free. I told him this and he retorted that he had jail broken his phone, and doesn't pay for apps.
- mgkimsal 14y ago
  So... he just randomly writes to people demanding refunds for stuff he didn't buy? And somehow imagines that 'refunds' will be processed on purchases that never happened? Are people really that a) stupid and/or b) evil?
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    I'm going to assume it was either someone young or from a developing country who assumed there was an off chance that they would plop $4.99 or whatever into his account.
  - gutnor 14y ago
    You have never worked in a call center for cheap product ... my gf worked in a call center for telephony card. Granted, they are shady with very weird pricing model, but still, people would just call to get refunded for their "lost" credit all the time all the time. (the connection didn't work ... but sir, you spent 2 hours ... yes but it was not my brother it was his wife) They would call if they found a empty card on the street to try to get some credit back. You quickly lose your faith in humanity when you sell large volume of cheap stuff.

by tlogan 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

I actually think we have Piracy to thank for this and perhaps to a lesser extent Open Source. There seems to exist a group of people who feel that piracy isn't just something that you do because you can't afford product X and feel marginally guilty about doing but something that is somehow a fundamental human right in a "people who pay for software are mugs" sort of way.

thirdsun 14y ago
Tell me about it - several of my friends who aren't very tech-savvy would nevertheless go to great lengths in order to have someone jailbreak their iPhones - not to escape the walled garden or other greater reasons, but simply because they heard there's free stuff to get. Of course this isn't limited to software as those are the same people that haven't bought an album in years.
- mgkimsal 14y ago
  Did they go so far as to pay someone to jailbreak for them? Or buy a jailbreak utility?
  - thirdsun 14y ago
    No, they just ask, express their interest and I usually try to explain that it isn't a very good idea to jailbreak - especially if you don't know what you're doing.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  I know someone who jailbroke his iPhone so he didn't have to pay for a $10 navigation app to use to navigate his $40,000 Mercedes.
  - lmm 14y ago
    It's weird what triggers one's aversion to spending money. I had to really struggle with myself to buy the GBP4 app that let my GPB400 tablet do the very thing I bought it for. It feels actually offensive to be asked to pay for internet, though I'll happily pay for overpriced drinks in a place that does "free" internet.
- mattgreenrocks 14y ago
  There's something very wrong with people who pay $80/mo for a smartphone contract and don't want to pay $1 for an app.
  - mrobataille 14y ago
    It's much harder to circumvent the $80, otherwise they would.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
bnegreve 14y ago
> Open Source. I actually think this is the opposite. Open source users tend to be more informed and thus more understanding to software issues. They post bug reports and even talk to devs when required. Someone who bought a piece of software will complain until it works as expected.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Depends on the software, I know plenty of non techy people who use firefox and openoffice and I would bet that the majority of them have no idea at all that the source code is available online. They just think of it as "free beer" which is fine because they are not devs so having the code would be of limited use to them. If open source software crashes on them they would just swear at it in the same way they would proprietary software, it wouldn't occur to them to take a stack trace and file a bug report (I guess this is why firefox offers to do this automatically).
icebraining 14y ago
"piracy" is accepting something that is being shared with you.
Peaker 14y ago
Some of us believe that copyrights impoverish society, and that paying for copyrighted content is encouraging the draconian copyright regime. I personally use free software, but I'd rather pirate something than encourage copyright-ridden software.

ryanwanger 14y ago

In a support email, someone demanded that we refund his money because our app was a piece of crap. The app has always been free. I told him this and he retorted that he had jail broken his phone, and doesn't pay for apps.

mgkimsal 14y ago
So... he just randomly writes to people demanding refunds for stuff he didn't buy? And somehow imagines that 'refunds' will be processed on purchases that never happened? Are people really that a) stupid and/or b) evil?
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  I'm going to assume it was either someone young or from a developing country who assumed there was an off chance that they would plop $4.99 or whatever into his account.
- gutnor 14y ago
  You have never worked in a call center for cheap product ... my gf worked in a call center for telephony card. Granted, they are shady with very weird pricing model, but still, people would just call to get refunded for their "lost" credit all the time all the time. (the connection didn't work ... but sir, you spent 2 hours ... yes but it was not my brother it was his wife) They would call if they found a empty card on the street to try to get some credit back. You quickly lose your faith in humanity when you sell large volume of cheap stuff.