By Bill Pytlovany
Have you noticed that most of the software you’re buying these days is only 99 cents?
The traditional software industry, like many, has been hit hard by slumping economic times. At least that’s what appears to be happening. I can’t help but notice traditional software distribution is in a state of flux not unlike the media and publishing industries.
The music industry which dealt with the downloading of free music has created a successful 99 cent per song model. Using mobile devices we’re now downloading decent software for as low as 99 cents. Who can’t afford an impulse purchase of $0.99. The Apple App Store made many new millionaires almost overnight at 99 cents a pop.
What about the rest of us who have spent years developing fully featured software on the Mac or Windows platform. Are customers going to revolt against prices which range from $30 like my own WinPatrol PLUS to programs like Photoshop which retails for $700?
I’m curious and thinking a crazy single day experiment could be fun and may be worth the risk. So what the hell. If you want to upgrade to WinPatrol PLUS on January 29th, I’ll give you a lifetime WinPatrol membership for less than a dollar. Instead of the regular price of $29.95 I’ll provide a coupon on WinPatrol.com that brings the price down to $0.99 USD. That comes out to approx. .70 € to our international friends
This will be a one-day only “experiment” starting at midnight EST on Jan 29th and will last 24 hours. Will over 30 times the normal number customers upgrade to WinPatrol PLUS? If so, will other software developers notice?
Like our current $30 plan, the 99¢ license will be good for life. Like sales in the App Store or Droid Market however, this license is only valid for a single computer. Sales are also limited to one per customer. Sound fair enough? If you’ve been someday planning on upgrading to WinPatrol PLUS, January 29th is the day to remember. Just go to www.WinPatrol.com this Friday and you may be a part of history.
Do you think the traditional software industry is in danger? If you think 99 cent software is coming or I’m just crazy than write about this on your blog. I will need enough people to know about this experiment to make it valid. That’s also why I had to pre-announce a special offer which may kill sales between now and Friday.
Contact [email protected] for questions or confirmation this is real. To all our fans who paid $29.95 I hope you’ll understand that this is just a crazy experiment and does not diminish the value of WinPatrol PLUS or how much I appreciate all your past support. This weekend I’ll evaluate the experiment and post the results.
If you’ve forgotten why WinPatrol fans are so loyal see “Top Ten Reasons to Try WinPatrol Again”.
This post is excerpted with Bill’s permission from his blog
