Quote:
Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66
Former software developer here with 30+ years experience.
The whole business model for software has drastically changed over the past 25 years. People aren't walking into a store and buying software off the shelf like in the 90's.
Software isn't free just because the end-user didn't have to pay for it directly out of pocket.
Apps with ads are an obvious example.
Apps like MS Office are now using a software-as-a-service model where the user has to pay monthly or yearly for a full featured software suite.
Google provides apps like Maps for free, but they also collect data on things like traffic patterns that they can sell to the DOT at a lower cost and with better accuracy than a traffic study being commissioned.
The cost to produce software is also MUCH lower than ever. The time required to build an app that might have taken a year or longer in the early 2000's could likely be built in 4 weeks now and with less skilled people.
The cost of software decreasing was inevitable but the demand has increased dramatically as almost everyone has a smartphone now and many have apps built into their vehicle. So yes, Jenvon's paradox has seemed to hold up over the test of time, although to me this paradox just seems more like common sense.
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There are no ads or nag-screens with LibreOffice. I also have the free version of CCleaner and I see a nag screen a couple times per YEAR inviting me to upgrade and get a discount if I do, or a free 3-month trial (which I usually get, and then cancel right before it expires).
My HP Smart software is 100% completely free.
I use ad blockers, and so I don't see ads on my google searches UNLESS I'm running a search specifically for ads (like if I'm shopping for something).
I use MUSHClient for gaming, and it has zero ads, and zero nag screens.
Even my Facebook webpage has no ads or sponsored posts, because I use FBP to block them. While FBP accepts donations, it is 100% completely free, if you don't want to contribute financially.
Firefox has no ads.
All of these (except Facebook on my computer, which is just a website loaded from my browser) are ad-free, and free to use.