Why I never bought the screensaver
 

There have been times where I seriously considered buying the screensave in the past, but always decided against it. Basically, the reason was because there was always a new version or new features in the works, but buying the currrent version meant I would have to pay for the new features later on.

For a smaller software investment, I don't really like having to go through lots of upgrade purchases. If there was someway I could buy the program once and be assured of the updates.... Or, at the very least, maybe being allowed to buy version 2.6 now, and be offered free upgrades up to, but not including 4.0 (so that way I'd get version 3).

Don't suppose you would consider this? :)

Jim has offered upgrades in certain areas. But it is extremely rare for anyone to offer free upgrades between versions no matter what software it is. Going from version 2.0+ to 3.0 is a major change.

Then I guess this means that you've NEVER bought any software. It seems like all the software I'm aware of has a new version with new features somewhere it it's future.

Of course since you must be running a free distro of Linux the Marine Aquarium wouldn't run on your computer anyway.

Bob

A lot of the upgrades have been free, but when a major revision comes along, we have charged $5.95 for the upgrade. Pricing is always a difficult subject, with no real research or examples to follow. I just made up the original price of $19.95 because I figured that most people could afford that. It's the price of dinner, except that it offers years of enjoymant instead of just one evening. When Prolific came on board, we experimented with the price, first raising it to $21.95, then recently lowering it to $14.95. The first adjustment did not result in the loss of any sales, and the second one saw a slight increase. I figured that by lowering v2.6 to $14.95, customers could pay a $5 upgrade to v3.0, and still have only paid the regular price for 3.0.

If you offer free upgrades, will you be working the rest of your life for nothing, or will continued interest in the product drive sales for new generations of customers? If you cut the price in half, will sales double (and double your customer support)? Should all your sales be on-line, or should you offer a hard-copy version in stores? Difficult questions, and with no guidelines, I have to make up the answers as I go along.

Anyway, thanks for your input KevinAr18. I'll add your thoughts into the equation.

If you are waiting for a "final version" of MA I hope your wait will be a long one. :)

Usually the upgrades aren't painful. They are around $5.95 or so. I've purchased several in the MA series and loved them all. It's well worth the original price and the updates aren't that expensive. It's better than waiting and never getting the screen saver.