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There is weekly quiz on the German c't computer magazine web page. This week you have to identify system crash screens. I reached at least more points than 50% of the participants. I failed to get those of Windows 8.1 (never used that; only 7 and 10).
But it raises the question for me when I last had one. As far as I remember it is about 6 years ago where a defective RAM module was the reason.
For those who want to try it even not knowing German (which is not really necessary for doing the quiz but makes it a little bit harder when not uderstanding the short questions which contain sometimes additional information): #TGIQF - das Quiz: Crash mich noch mal! | heise online[^]. Just click "Quiz starten", the (hopefully correct) answer (be quick; short times count for points), and "Weiter" (Next) to continue.
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For me it looks more like a glory hole (within mine the computers are at least properly stacked) 
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... ohhh ... "weiter" ...
(werde ich sie ausknocken)
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Pshaw. My recently-retired old work computer blue-screened slightly more often than once a day.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Gone are the days where you make a piece of shareware-type software and expect to make serious money for it. For instance, I use Sublime Text 3 a lot. It's awesome. The peeps that made that did a fantastic job. It's fast and lightweight and very customizable. And it's only $80 to register. Yes, there are free alternatives but few are as zippy as Sublime. Here's the kicker though, every tutorial you see online using Sublime usually says unregistered more times than not in the titlebar. Which I don't get... it's only $80 and the amount of work that went into making the software must've been insane. And you can use one license at home and work with very few restrictions. It's great.
I know in the world of GPL and with so many young kids online now, free is where it's at on the surface. And people will gladly give up human rights, privacy, their first born's livelihood, etc. as long they have the illusion of free by not costing dollars upfront. But, let's just assume developers also have bills like the rest of the world and so money is useful. I'm curious how y'all monetize software these days since clearly, unless it's a very niche piece of software then there's usually a free alternative to whatever we're making now.
Anyone still using the ol' shareware try before you buy model? I know there are some people that'll have two product offerings. A dinky one that's free to get them in the door and a real one that's complimentary that costs money. I know people will pay for perceived value, it's just software is becoming so common place it's perceived value is going down in and of itself (for average stuff online, not LOB software). So it's either go niche or go home, or create a service people will rely on.
Right now the best model I can see with niche software, that is not a service, is to keep the software "free" but then sell any required knowledge to actually make use of it. Which like LOB apps, also require business domain knowledge to really make use of. Knowledge is still valuable and certain things take a skill to make work. So it has a low barrier to entry on the surface, but realistically it won't do you one bit of a good unless you know what you're doing with it and really know what you're doing outside of faking it.
To use an analogy, basically let's say I have a hammer (the software). If I give someone a hammer, nobody realistically expects a person to magically be able to a build a house with zero training now. On the flip side, for those that can build homes, you need a hammer to do so. So you give the shiny hammer away for free knowing full good and well, it's going to be useless to the untrained hand. But now you have my hammer and know my company name. So, the hammer is considered the cost of customer acquisition now and sell the info required to train people to use the hammer.
I'm there are other ways to make money with software I'm not aware of. So, I'm curious. Is there anyone in CP land actually making any real money with software outside of LOB apps or services? And if so, what model are you using?
Jeremy Falcon
modified 17-Nov-17 9:28am.
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: Gone are the days where you make a piece of shareware-type software and expect to make serious money for it.
Take a look at "Stardew Valley"; created by a single person, and still a commercial game.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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It seems that the Shareware with option to buy model still exists in the mobile realm, albeit slightly modified. You can download the software and use either a fully functional version with ads, or a nearly fully functional version with ads. Then for a fee you can have the ads removed.
<rant>
There is a special place for developers who choose to have ads plus in-app purchases in their software. I do my best to never reward their behavior.
</rant>
Jeremy Falcon wrote: Here's the kicker though, every tutorial you see online using Sublime usually says unregistered more times than not in the titlebar.
Less an answer but more of an observation. There was a post not too long ago along the same lines about how more and more people are expecting software to be free. With Google providing so many solutions for "free", Microsoft floated the idea of an ad supported version of Office, and 99.9% of mobile applications being free with ads built in, we're used to it and expect it.
I've noticed this at previous places of employment, such as large companies where 'developers' are using VS Community and SQL Express. People who still for some strange reason install WinRAR and then of course never register it (that one still boggles my mind, given their business practices). Heck, when I first started working I remember a senior dev telling me how to completely remove the trial version of Toad so the timer would reset.
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RJOberg wrote: such as large companies where 'developers' are using VS Community and SQL Express.
funny how these large companies selectively ignore the licensing terms of some packages such as VS Community, but freak out at the thought of using software labelled as 'pirated' or 'hacked' or installed with a 'patch' - what's the difference, either way it's violation of the terms ticked during installation.
Apparently the most common method of 'pirating' windows/office is exactly the same as what you mentioned for Toad - the hack is just regularly resetting the 30 days license grace period.
Installing Signature...
Do not switch off your computer.
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RJOberg wrote: There is a special place for developers who choose to have ads plus in-app purchases in their software. I do my best to never reward their behavior.
Same here brother.
RJOberg wrote: Less an answer but more of an observation. There was a post not too long ago along the same lines about how more and more people are expecting software to be free. With Google providing so many solutions for "free", Microsoft floated the idea of an ad supported version of Office, and 99.9% of mobile applications being free with ads built in, we're used to it and expect it.
RJOberg wrote: I've noticed this at previous places of employment, such as large companies where 'developers' are using VS Community and SQL Express. People who still for some strange reason install WinRAR and then of course never register it (that one still boggles my mind, given their business practices). Heck, when I first started working I remember a senior dev telling me how to completely remove the trial version of Toad so the timer would reset.
I've seen that too. So far it seems to be with the younger generation who are a bit too used to free crap or from devs who really haven't quite matured enough to realize people have bills to pay. I mean, I realize VS Code has some things VS does not since (it's lightweight too), but still by and large you get more umph from the real deal.
Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: So far it seems to be with the younger generation who are a bit too used to free crap
I do not see any difference.
Before the internet I had to repeatedly tell people that they could not copy code from books. And that got a lot easier with books that came with disks. I was the only one that ever documented licenses and specifically investigated licenses when other people imported code.
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Adsense/Doubleclick is one way. Get a lot of users to spend a lot of time on your app or site and get some revenue.
I actually started to make an android media player for my own personal usage, because I'm not happy with what is out there. If I get the time to polish it properly, might just as well put it in the app store to see what would happen.
modified 20-Oct-19 21:02pm.
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to be honest I'd rather run ad-free for 10-30 days than run with ads to decide if I want to keep it. I mean the ads will only detract expectations of the genuine/eventual experience.
OIOW if you keep getting served poorly timed (or just plain sh*t) ads during a 'trial' people will always blame / criticize the app, not the ads.
Installing Signature...
Do not switch off your computer.
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People seem to make money with stuff like "virtual sticky notes", so the actual ad implementation is not important. The hard part is to get the interest of the users.
Also IoT will be very big. Make the toaster to sing the "Thought of the day" from CP and sell subscriptions to the service
modified 20-Oct-19 21:02pm.
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Same here man. I think a time trial is better. Too many adds simply distract you from using the software
Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: Anyone still using the ol' shareware try before you buy model?
As a user, yes, because there's a lot of crap out there and I want to test drive it first.
As a developer, heck, I've totally thrown out the idea of making money directly with software that I develop, the main reason being:
It's nearly impossible for one person to put together everything that's necessary in a "commercial" piece of software nowadays. Not just the software itself, but everything that goes along with it: a nice website, marketing, customer support, etc. So, needing a team, a social media marketing channel, the luck of getting traction, etc.. makes this a daunting task, particularly since I'm in the "will pay you if there's profits" camp. While I have many labors of love, it's hard to find other people that share the same passions, have free time, like coding in C#, and don't mind learning my libraries and coding styles rather than all the Microsoft kruft and "best practices."
Jeremy Falcon wrote: Is there anyone in CP land actually making any real money with software outside of LOB apps or services? And if so, what model are you using?
My articles on CP have in the past landed me some lucrative jobs, and for the potential employers that bother to look (90% don't), it definitely helps. Of course then I'm working in their LOB, but that's cool because I get to learn something and it provides a paycheck.
An amusing anecdote: the company I currently have done 2 six month contract stints now wants to hire me. The last 6 months I switched from 5 days a week to 3 days a week, as there just wasn't enough work, and frankly, my talents are totally underutilized. They actually realize that and want to hire me part time, and once they get something (think long term vision planning stuff on their part) that actually utilizes my skills, they'd like me to switch to full time. So it's nice to be understood.
It was hard keeping a straight face when the VP looked at me and said "I get it, Marc, you're bored!" Although he was a lot more blunt about it than I was, he was quite accurate.
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Marc Clifton wrote: want to hire me part time, and once they get something (think long term vision planning stuff on their part) that actually utilizes my skills, they'd like me to switch to full time.
I'd tread carefully there, too often they soon find some less desirable tasks to bring you up to full time - of course with the words, "its only temporary till the next full-time project rolls out." As an employee they pretty much can do that to you.
For instance they'll throw you in as say a part time accounts "helper" (basically clerk) or something similar to your primary application expertise
- yes you are very expensive, but they know:
1 you really do know what you are doing,
2. you will do it very well (already demonstrated good quality otherwise they wouldn't keep you), and,
3. will probably get done in that 'spare 2 days' what a junior would need 5 days to do.
Installing Signature...
Do not switch off your computer.
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Marc Clifton wrote: It's nearly impossible for one person to put together everything that's necessary in a "commercial" piece of software nowadays. Not just the software itself, but everything that goes along with it: a nice website, marketing, customer support, etc. So, needing a team, a social media marketing channel, the luck of getting traction, etc.. makes this a daunting task, particularly since I'm in the "will pay you if there's profits" camp. While I have many labors of love, it's hard to find other people that share the same passions, have free time, like coding in C#, and don't mind learning my libraries and coding styles rather than all the Microsoft kruft and "best practices."
Totally agree with you there man. And I'm not against getting people on board when the time is right. I just gotta think about the profit model. I intentionally want to keep this small, so the angle I'm going with is "elite circle" for now. For the reasons you just said though, it's why most entrepreneurs have no life at first until they can afford to hire people. It's the price you pay.
Marc Clifton wrote: It was hard keeping a straight face when the VP looked at me and said "I get it, Marc, you're bored!" Although he was a lot more blunt about it than I was, he was quite accurate.
He sounds like a cool guy. I think people like that who are open and honest make the best people to work with.
Jeremy Falcon
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Blame mobile devices. $1-2 "apps" have ruined the business of making money with desktop applications. On the desktop, how many times has someone come along and developed an app free that was "almost as good" as the commercial app against which it was written?
The only real way to make money with software anymore is to have embedded ads in web sites/mobile apps, and hope it's popular long enough to make some money off the ad revenue.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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This.
People thought I was nuts when I was saying that Steve Jobs was going to put an end to the shareware model when he introduced the idea of $1.99 store apps. People now either expect to pay that much for their software, if not get it for free altogether. No wonder developers have turned to embedding ads. I'll get out of this industry before I have to resort to doing that.
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: I'm curious how y'all monetize software these days since clearly, unless it's a very niche piece of software then there's usually a free alternative to whatever we're making now.
If I find a piece of software that I continue to use then I will pay for it after a while. I have even paid more than once since their model had an infinite life span but I felt that since I used it for years they should get more money.
Jeremy Falcon wrote: Right now the best model I can see with niche software
There are alternatives to direct monetization however. For example one can leverage it into a resume and/or speaking/consulting roles. One might even be directly recruited based on a public offering.
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Believe it or not, today we are going to have our christmas dinner right after work. Someone forgot to make the reservations and this was the best he could get.
Two more hours and off we go. Merry christmas!
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
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Well you are only 11 months, late so not too bad really. 
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For that reason (reservation) and the cumulation of such events before Christmas, it is meanwhile common here to move some of the events to January.
Have a nice dinner.
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I'd do it in January - cheaper and less crowded.
98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.
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