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Having purchased sublime text 2 I would definitely encourage the author of it to do this. The main competition text mate is a great example itself of this model

by robryan 14y ago

Having purchased sublime text 2 I would definitely encourage the author of it to do this. The main competition text mate is a great example itself of this model being unsustainable in terms of having someone continue to develop the product full time in the long term.

veidr 14y ago
Opposite problem. TextMate made Alan Odgaard so much money that he didn't need to work on it anymore[1]. Who wants to maintain an old code base when they could spend ten weeks trekking in New Zealand[2] and then hunker down for the Great Rewrite That Fixes All The Problems? (Not that I blame Odgaard; in fact, as an ST2 user this is my greatest fear about that product--selling thousands and thousands of copies at $60 is an extremely viable level of revenue for a one-man shop.) [1]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ [2]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/
- robryan 14y ago
  I disagree, I think it it more that the future effort vs reward didn't stack up as well. Because so many developers had already purchased and it was well known, a free version 2 wouldn't represent the same kind of financial gain the initial spike did, despite all the extra effort. A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns.
  - jowiar 14y ago
    > A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns. Marginal utility. The first million is worth a lot more than the second.
- gurkendoktor 14y ago
  I had always suspected that TextMate was a huge financial success but never did the googling. Thanks a lot for posting this. I wonder if PixelMator is on a similar trajectory after Apple has featured them in nearly every possible spot on the Mac App Store.

by robryan 14y ago

veidr 14y ago

Opposite problem. TextMate made Alan Odgaard so much money that he didn't need to work on it anymore[1]. Who wants to maintain an old code base when they could spend ten weeks trekking in New Zealand[2] and then hunker down for the Great Rewrite That Fixes All The Problems? (Not that I blame Odgaard; in fact, as an ST2 user this is my greatest fear about that product--selling thousands and thousands of copies at $60 is an extremely viable level of revenue for a one-man shop.) [1]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/ [2]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/ http://blog.macromates.com/2006/20-will-require-leopard/

robryan 14y ago
I disagree, I think it it more that the future effort vs reward didn't stack up as well. Because so many developers had already purchased and it was well known, a free version 2 wouldn't represent the same kind of financial gain the initial spike did, despite all the extra effort. A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns.
- jowiar 14y ago
  > A paid version 2 though produces a similar windfall again, rather than diminishing returns. Marginal utility. The first million is worth a lot more than the second.
gurkendoktor 14y ago
I had always suspected that TextMate was a huge financial success but never did the googling. Thanks a lot for posting this. I wonder if PixelMator is on a similar trajectory after Apple has featured them in nearly every possible spot on the Mac App Store.