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iniquities of the selfish
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Join Date: May 2004
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2006-12-14, 18:05

I love the way Gruber takes the time to analyse stuff that most people would be prepared to let go.

I also like the way he is prepared to call it as he sees it.

It's not humoruos, but it is worth the read. It's about MacHeist. Message to Phill Ryu - don't pontificate about being philanthropic or wanting to give back to the developer community. If these numbers are anywhere near close, it's all about the money ... going into your pockets.

http://daringfireball.net/2006/12/in...of_the_selfish

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jdcfsu
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Florida
 
2006-12-14, 19:57

This has been throughly discussed on the MacHeist boards. I think Phill's response is rather interesting:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phill Ryu
Second, is it hurting developers as a whole, or perhaps just redistributing the wealth a bit? People who have been weighing in, including Gus Mueller of VoodooPad and Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba, are sitting at the peak of the mountain, and are seeing potential customers springing for cheaper competitors looking for a better deal. I think people are buying more apps, and spending more on shareware, with a slight difference: they might be starting to buy more smaller apps, from lesser known developers on sites like MacZot, vs. paying in full for more "popular", well-known apps that don't require a zot for sales. In other words, things seem to be balancing out a little bit to me, and I don't see that as a negative thing. And of course, hell, if Gus and Paul are seeing their sales skyrocket, all the better.
Also, Ars asked Wil Shipley (Delicious Library -- a MacHeist app) about his participation in their recent interview:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wil Shipley
I think events like this get a lot of publicity, so they bring in new customers that I wouldn't reach on my own. So I'm not really sabotaging my sales; I'm supplementing them. Seriously, if you came to me and said, "I'm going to resell Delicious Library to customers on the moon, who you've never met and can't reach, for $1 a copy," I'd say, "Go for it!" I don't care if I only get a penny if it's a penny more than I would have gotten on my own.
The bottom line for me, as I expressed on those boards as well, is that as a relatively newcomer to the Mac world, MacHeist (and MyDreamApp for that matter) have exposed me to Mac share/donation/freeware that I never would have found on my own. I now look for it and throughly enjoy it. I had bought Delicious Library before I ever knew it was a bundle app because it's a great program and worth the price. IMO MacHeist is doing what Phill wanted it to do, gain exposure for the developer community as a whole and introduce people who might not have been in the market to the market. It worked for me.

90% of statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time.
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Join Date: May 2004
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2006-12-14, 21:16

I read the Wil Shipley interview and he seems genuinely OK with the deal he got. That's cool, but I still think Gruber is spot on:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DF
What’s in dispute is whether the money is being distributed equitably. Just because someone is satisfied with a bad deal doesn’t mean it isn’t a bad deal.
I also think (basing my opinion on the conjecture of Gruber) that Ryu is just putting a spin on it for his own sake. If he really wanted to help the developers he should have offered a percentage deal.
Code:
Current Newsfire TextMate ------- -------- -------- Total Revenue: $132,000 $200,000 $400,000 Total Raised for Charity: 33,000 50,000 100,000 Post-Charity Revenue: 99,000 150,000 300,000 Est. Other Expenses: 30,000 30,000 30,000 Total Profit: 69,000 120,000 270,000 Est. Total Payments to Dev's: $54,500 $67,000 $79,500 Est. MacHeist Profit: 14,500 53,000 190,500 MacHeist Profit Share (%): 21 44 71 Developers' Combined Profit Share: 79 56 29 Developers' Ind. Average Share: 10 6 3
Quote:
Originally Posted by DF
My problem with MacHeist is that they’re couching this bundle as a service to the indie developer community, when the truth is that they stand to make a significant amount of money while paying comparatively little to the very developers whose interests they claim to be serving.

My idea of a fair distribution would be to pay each participating developer a share of the profits, and for the MacHeist team to take a share equivalent to one of the developers. Or, for the MacHeist team to take an agent-like 10-15 percent of the amount paid to each developer.
Good luck to him for being an entrepreneur, but his stock is not high in my book. If the figures are correct, I can't help but think what he is saying is insincere. It also reads like he's prattling on ... trying to justify himself to a bunch of cheap-ass teenagers.

(No offense to your good self jdcfsu. )

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jdcfsu
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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2006-12-14, 21:33

No offense taken as I'm 24 with a career and full time salary. I guess each developer is entitled to their opinion. As Wil said in his interview each of the developers knew up front how much they'd make on each sale and none of them were forced into the deal. I participated in the MacHeist because it was fun and, as I said above, it exposed me to the share/donation/freeware community.

90% of statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time.
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