Bring Back Shareware

I grew up with computers, thanks primarily to my mother working at the Bowling Green State University I.T. service desk when I was in elementary school. We were a Apple family, the first computer I touched was probably my grandfathers Apple Color Classic, followed by a Macintosh Performa and finally a transparent blue iMac G3. I remember playing games off of floppies on the Performa (so much SimCity 2000), and downloading software on the iMac with our (painfully) slow dial-up. When my parents were in class, I'd plop infront of Softpedia and download any piece of Shareware with a free trial.

As I grew older, I started to poke around in software with ResEdit. I felt like a hacker, changing dialog text to say "poop" (hey I was a kid)! Eventually I got into programming and started creating my own software. In elementary school I wrote simple games and "sold" them to friends (distributed via CD-RW). In high school, I wrote larger pieces of shareware and sold them online. I got so excited when a new shareware site picked up my application, or an article was written about it (even if it was a summary blurb in Spanish).

For those unfamiliar with this era, shareware refers to software that is available for free download with a trial or limited set of features. Crippleware is a subcategory of shareware in which vital features of the application were disabled until you paid, and nagware is shareware that would periodically show a popup to "nag" you into purchasing a license. In constrast, freeware referes to software that is completely free to download and use, and donationware is a subcategory of freeware in which you might be prompted to support the developer, but it wasn't required.

What Happened to Shareware?

These days, finding companies that release shareware is becoming harder and harder. A majority of software is now offered under subscription plans, or free but privacy invasive models. There's a number of issues with this that make me long for the old days of shareware.

The Problem of Ownership

The most obvious issue with the current model of SaaS (software as a service) is the lack of ownership. Before you could purchase a floppy, CD-ROM or a license key that entitled you to access the software you purchased. This ownership was non-revokable and was not contigent on continued payments. For example, I've been using the amazing TaskPaper app from Hog Bay Software for the past 7 years on the same license. With SaaS, you own nothing, you throw your money into a endless pit and come out the otherside with just an empty wallet if you end your subscription. Heck, you'll probably also lose "your" data as it's all stored on a server or in a proprietary format.

The Problem of Quality

As someone that works in software, and as a consumer, I've noticed a trend towards quantity of features over quality in software. It seems the focus has shifted to pushing out as many features as possible and removing an equal amount of features that immediately coorelate to profit gains based on the numerous tests being run behind the scenes. Gone are the niche, crafted with love tools that continue getting purposeful updates over the course of decades. Instead, software companies are focused on pumping out trendy features that make investors happy in the hopes of a quick exit.

For example, the text editor I currently use (BBEdit by Bare Bones Software) has been around since Macintosh System 6! Over it's 33 years lifespan it's received numerous updates and features, but the core experience is the same. It's fast, reliable and (still) doesn't suck. Compare that to what used to be my favorite web browser, Arc. It started of amazing, pushing the envelope in terms of UX of a web browser. Then the features slowed down, and it was eventually sunset so the company could focus on the trend of A.I. This all happened over the course of 2 years.

The Problem of Enshittification

Enshittification is a term coined by Cory Doctorow that refers to the decay of quality in software products over time in the pursuit of short term profits for stakeholders. Enshittification has become rampant, to the point that I refuse to try new SaaS products as I know they'll turn to crap in a few years. Take Strava for example. Strava is a platform for athletes to view statistics and interact with other athletes. As a cyclist, I use Strava daily, but the quality of the service has been rapidly declining. More and more features locked behind monthly subscriptions, A.I. shoved into places it doesn't need to be, tools that enable out-of-platform tracking removed (manual record an activity) and user requests ignored for ages (like the ability to post a link in a club). That's why I'm making my own Mac version of Strava.

Is All Hope Lost?

Absolutely not! Just because the industry is going in this direction, doesn't mean that all computer users need to follow. I've mentioned a few high-quality shareware tools that I adore in this post, and there are many more (I'll list some of my favorites at the end). Here's what I think we need to focus on to keep the community of high-quality software thriving.

Small/Indie Software Companies

I'm a pretty firm believer that mid-large size companies are incapable of developing high quality software. That's why we need to rally behind the indie and small companies pushing out well-crafted applications. Similar to shop local, you should shop indie when you can. Forget Adobe, consider tools like Acorn from Flying Meat. Additionally, consider open-source projects. Although this post is about shareware, there are also thousands of extremely polished, high-quality applications made by teams of dedicated open-source contributors (such as GIMP). Heck, the Arc browser example from earlier has resulted in a Firefox based-based open-source browser that has a very similar UX.

Community

In the days of shareware, developers would announce new releases in forums, newsgroups, IRC, etc. We also had sites like Softpedia to discover software. These days, it's hard to find software with the amount of low-quality noise paired with the overwhelming advertising budgets of VC backed SaaS companies that dominate app stores. That's why it's more important than ever to share software you love. Post on your blog, email to your friends, etc.

What's Next?

Bringing back the golden age of computing is something I think a lot about these days. I want this post to be a call to action for anyone that shares this dream. For developers, think about the SaaS tools you use that are undergoing enshittification and rebuild them as high quality shareware. For the average computer users, reject the subscription model and VC funded Silicon Valley startups, turn to the guy in Seattle who's been selling shareware with his wife for 22 years. For those with an internet presence, blog about software you love and get the community ball rolling.

If you've read this post and it resonated with you, let me know! I'd love to start a forum or IRC channel in the vein of building a community where people could share software they use or built, so I'd love to hear if there's interest.

Software I love

As promised, here's a list of tools I especially love!

I'll keep expanding this list as I discover new software!