Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
Take Photoshop for example...
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Adobe and Microsoft used a specific sales model that involved willingly allowing their apps to fill the market, gaining as much market share as possible, before attaching compelling reasons to upgrade, and finally a serious DRM system that would force old and new users to all buy the upgrades. Once everyone was already attached to Adobe software by the nose, they ponied up as much as $1000 for new versions of that software because they felt they had no choice.
It's not quite the same as the e-book "1 piracy equals 1 lost sale" issue: Adobe and MS used free downloads to lock customers in of their own accord, then real them in later (an incredibly successful strategy, I might point out). With e-books, this would be more like putting out the free sample of
90% of a book, ending the sample at the cliffhanger, then charging $100 for the climax.