I’ll admit it: I’m a tools junkie.
Most of my career has been spent in software development, so my expertise in what makes good software combines with my constant process of trying to improve the development process to create an addiction to finding the best tools, at the best price, and using them in the best possible ways.
One of the key tenets of software development is that you don’t re-invent the wheel, so if someone has already built software that does what I need, use that. If the cost of the software plus the time to learn it is worth more than the cost of time to build it, then (in theory) I’m ahead.
I’m also a true believer in Larry Wall’s Three Virtues of a Programmer, so I have a philosophy that anything that you do at least three times should be automated. (That’s part of the virtue of “laziness.”)
For those reasons, as well as my natural curiosity, I spend an enormous amount of time evaluating various tools, including software products and digital assets, and to some degree that has intensified as we’ve been building out the Two Cents On site.
(Though it might make sense that the evaluation time required to choose a solution should also be a part of the value proposition, I tend to consider that a necessary part of the education process. I would probably spend a similar amount of time in “requirements gathering” if I had to build the software myself.)
In the process of finding the right solutions to meet the requirements for the various ventures associated with Two Cents On, I’ve evaluated a lot of software products and services. And in many cases, I’ve made many purchases that were – for me – good values.
It is important to understand that although price is one important potential part of what determines value, value is much more complicated than you may have considered (something we will discuss in an upcoming article).
The biggest issue that I’ve found with bargain software has not been quality or security — although those are occasional issues. The problem has been an overwhelming amount of up-selling and cross-selling for some products, which normally generally lead me to one or more reactions in the following categories::
Bait-and-Switch
All too often, software vendors provide a long list of features for a product, and then present a bargain price, but disguise the fact that the version of the software at that price does not include all of the features touted. This approach ranges from the slightly dubious to a downright bait-and-switch, and from software that still gives decent value at the price to software that is essentially useless for the purpose it was intended.
Multi-level Marketing
Without regard to the quality of the software being sold, many vendors give the impression that they are more interested in creating a pyramid of affiliates or re-sellers than in selling (and supporting) the product itself.
For example, I often get multiple plugs for the same product from various vendors from whom I have purchased in the past, and who have their own products to sell, but have apparently have decided that it is more profitable to sell someone else’s product than to continue improving their own software. (This also makes me wonder if all of their products are just private-labeled versions of software written by others.)
Perceptive readers may have noticed that I haven’t named any names or pointed fingers at any particular offenders. Don’t worry; this is not an attempt to protect the guilty. We will be sharing the experiences we’ve had with specific products and vendors in future articles.
