When you WANT to pay....

Piracy is rife. Why? Generally software is clunky and expensive - especially when you are talking windows software. Getting an activation, code or serial is very easy with the internet. It's not right - but many people do it.

When I moved to Mac I suddenly started using software that was a 'pleasure' to use. It was slick and it worked. All of a sudden I wanted to pay for it, what's more - it was not expensive. However, there is something even better; lots of the software was free! Yes I know there is lots of 'free' software on windows but frankly its either rubbish or full of 'spyware'. The software I have been using on the Mac is of professional quality, and yet free.

One such example is TrailrunnerX. This is a fantastic piece of software for the Mac that allows someone to log all there workouts, plan training and export the data in one click to their Blog. The interface is gorgeous and the map integration amazing.

Surely something of this quality would be a trial and a £30+ charge? No, it's free. The creator wrote it because he wanted to - all he added was a donations option for those that might want to help. I wanted to - it comes to something when you are offered something for free but want to pay for it.


Is that the future for software as 'open-source' accelerates in popularity? I'm not sure - could you build a business model on such an idea?

What I do know though is there is great software out there that is free - but if you use it frequently, maybe you should consider donating...It would be interesting to see how many people do or would donate when software is free.....