freeware vs. shareware.. i'm torn

[cavneb]

Hey all...

I just recently released an application that I wrote that manages dvd collections, and lets you log who is borrowing them at the time. I wrote it mainly for myself b/c of my huge number of dvd's, but I thought that I'd post it on versiontracker.com to let others use it, and send me suggestions and advice on how I could make it better.

I since received about 30 emails and about 50+ feature suggestions. Now I want to make the people happy, but I don't really need much more than what this application now offers for my personal benefit.

I am now getting slagged by some people for not adding some features into the app. Most people however, have been very responsive and nice to me.. but you know how it goes.. you can get 99 compliments and 1 insult, and the insult is what stays in your mind.

Should I feel obligated to add all these features into the application? Or should I maybe create another version and charge $10 for registration (it seems to me that people want it bad enough).

Any ideas?

eric

[symphonix]

From WhiteSaint's experiences on the board, I think we've learnt one thing about posting software on versiontracker ... always release it as a "0.3" or "Beta" or some other tentative version number. People seem to be very demanding of software, even if they are getting it for free, and will criticise any bug or missing feature. But by releasing it as a "pre-official" version, you help to dispel some of the expectations.
Its far better to promise too little and then surprise your users with the quality of your program, than to promise too much and then not deliver.

That said, I'd say a $10 registration fee is justifiable, but it would be good to allow people to use it for free until they want the extra features rather than nagging them to pay for something they only really use for convenience. Remember that if you can give them something kinda cool for the reg version, people will happily pay for it, but most people are really only looking for an alternative to using a notepad and pen!

[hazmat]

Eric, I'm one of the people who send feedback on it. Listen, if it does exactly what you need and you just released it thinking others would find it handy, then, frankly, screw 'em. If you actually want to put in the functionality people have asked for, go for it. $10 probably isn't that much for a lot more functionality. FWIW, Unsanity charges $7 for their awesome stuff. But I would probably pay it if you put in the stuff I wanted. Hell make it into a media library app to include CD and LPs and I bet a lot more people would pay.

Otherwise, do you know of anything around like this that supports more than just DVDs? I just need something pretty simple.

[cavneb]

the new app will contain dvd, video, cd and book cataloging i think

thx for the support and advice, both of you i learned a lesson this time

eric

[hazmat]

Cool. Don't forget Laserdisc. I have the Star Wars Trilogy Special Editions.

[cavneb]

[chemistry_geek]

A couple of suggestions to make life REALLY simple and easy (no insult intended):

Question: Is an application really necessary for determining which one our buddies borrowed our DVD's/CD's?

Answer: Create a template for TextEdit:

Title: Star Trek
Name: Joe Smith
Borrowed: 3/6/02
Returned: 6/5/02
Notes: He scratched my DVD, he never gets to borrow one again.

OR,

Use Stickies.

I find that most things like this can be done with a simple list in a text editor.

[Titanium]

one really easy way to solve this problem would be to release your code as 'open source' to the community. then everyone who's interested can code his own stuff into it and a lot of people will code and improve your application just for the fun of it. open source is a philosophy you should consider for your own little project as i don't see how it could possibly harm you.
see:
http://sourceforge.net
for some 'tid bits' of information you might want to read about =)

i would strongly! encourage you to walk 'open source' with this. it will benefit everyone. plus you releasing your code certainly will be much much appreciated by the open source community! =)
i'd love to hear about how you are thinking about this.

signing off from berlin, germany

titanium