Is there any such thing as a "free lunch?"
I want to know why these companies offer so much free software downloads over the internet when you find them on sale in stores for 50-100 ? what is the deal with that?
Is it better to pay for it in stores or download it for "free?"
2007-01-19 21:40:04 · 8 answers · asked by dafaadf f 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Internet
Often, the free download is the basic or older version of a program.
The free download is to entice you to try.
If your need is basic, this may be enough for you.
Once you try, you may like to do slightly more - this is when you buy the upgrade, or later version.
Some freeware sites are funded by advertising on the page.
2007-01-19 21:46:17 · answer #1 · answered by David P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The main reason is there are a lot of issues with viruses etc.... so when a wizzkid programmer comes up with a sloution that fixes one of these problems he/she will share it and allow everyone to have it for free on the understanding that it was such a ballache having the said problem. For example DVDshrink is totally free, why? Because some genius wrote it one day and realised it worked for burning DVD's.
2007-01-20 03:06:33 · answer #2 · answered by 139 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some of the software is not coming out of companies, but out of people who like to write software but don't want to get into marketing. There are a lot of people who participate in the Open Software movement for this reason.
There are companies who have a variety of products who offer their most basic product for free to attract your attention to their skills. Express Rip says this specifically on their site.
And then there are those who are injecting spyware onto your machine.
2007-01-19 21:56:02 · answer #3 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Several reasons. Some of them are what's known in the marketing world as "lost leaders", they get your attention, get you to browse around the site in the hopes that you will purchase something else; supermarkets do the same thing with food.
Also, there are a lot of good, talented people out there (not everyone is a baddie) and are simply sharing their talents with us.
Some are Trialware and will only actually work for 30 days or so, letting you decide whether you want to purchase it and if it is compatible with your system.
And finally, as Mike1942r said, unfortunately there are lots of "baddies" out there, and their main objective is to install something else on your system other than what they are advertising. ALWAYS DOWNLOAD WITH CAUTION.
2007-01-19 22:08:58 · answer #4 · answered by Acadia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its all about advertising either for a newer or better version of the free download or if its a popular download other companies will advertise on your site all media web,television radio or print make most of their money off of advertising
2007-01-19 21:49:03 · answer #5 · answered by JOHN D 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its a marketing thing. By giving you free they are building a rapport with you. And in the long run you become their virtual friend. Take Google for instance. They have a bunch of softwares that they bundled up and call it Google Software Pack. Why ?
2007-01-19 21:47:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some are free but with a time limit to encourage you to buy & others are free so that they can try & flog you other software. I assume the strategy works since theres an increasing amount of it
2007-01-19 21:49:50 · answer #7 · answered by la.bruja0805 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Advertising and also they give you older versions hoping you will buy the upgrade.
2007-01-19 22:23:33 · answer #8 · answered by Maeve N 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋