Today I stumbled into an applied example of an old marketing principle: give something out for free for a while, hook users onto it and then, if they want it they will pay for it. You would think that applied to software it means demos and trials. So did I until today when I stumbled [via Lifehacker] upon the Giveaway of the day site. On this site you get one free program each day – they get to choose it though. And when I mean free I mean you get a software with a valid license, for which you would otherwise have to pay money. What’s the catch? Here it goes:
- You must download and INSTALL the very same day you see the software. Once the day passes the activation doesn’t work and you’re stuck with trial software.
- You cannot reinstall the software, even if your PC dies a very horrible (and sad) death. This means that if you get addicted to one of these programs and want to use it after Windows died you will have to buy it.
Until now the site has featured mostly low-cost software and games, but you might find a small app that just does the trick for you. So their RSS feed will get a place in my reader so that I can check for interesting apps to download.