Issue 37.15
We have shared access to a number of free programs through these articles. Many of them are very powerful and fitting replacements for expensive programs you can buy. Others are introductory versions of those expensive programs. This is a marketing concept that is very effective and can be a real blessing to those of us who don’t have a lot of money. There are two types of “promotional” versions of these programs. One type is a limited version that makes it unusable either in some of its functions or in the time we can use it. Many of them allow you to use the program for 14 days or 30 days or some other period. Others allow you to use the program, but limit or “tag” the printouts from the program with words splashed across the printing that identifies it as a trial or illegal copy. The idea of this concept is also its limitation. You can’t use it profitably unless you pay for the full program sooner or later.
The other approach is to offer a fully functional program that is not as robust or powerful as the “main” program. This does a couple of things for the creators of the programs involved. First, it exposes a lot of people to the company and their programs. It gets them “in the door” so to speak since it gets their program into your computer and makes you aware of how it works. This gives them the opportunity to use the “stripped down” version to advertise to you about the benefits of the full program. Most of them use the fact that you need to update regularly to try to sell you the full version – sometimes pretty aggressively. This is not dishonest and it makes a lot of sense from a marketing standpoint. Get the customer to like you and your product and then offer them more if they are willing to spend some money. The fact that they sometimes mask what they are asking you to do borders more on the dishonest side of the equation, but it is manageable if you take the time to read carefully before clicking on any changes, upgrades or updates.
A couple of quick examples are Adobe and Anti-virus companies like AVG and AVAST. Adobe gives away Adobe Reader to most people that have a computer. It is a valuable tool for looking at .PDF (Portable Document Files) files and even for interacting with them. This gives Adobe the chance to promote all their other programs, some costing hundreds of dollars, to you directly. Adobe Acrobat is the version that allows you to create powerful pdf files and not just look at them.
Avast and AVG offer powerful anti-virus programs free. These are good programs and protect you well. They also have commercial versions that you can buy that add more capabilities and more types of protection. They often pop-up a box that asks if you want full protection free for 30 days. It is tempting and the full versions are very good to have if you can afford them. If you agree and click the button, you will indeed have full protection for 30 days, but at the end of that time, your protection will cease unless you pay their price for the program. AVG at least offers you a “downgrade” if you begin the uninstall process which allows you to go back to the free version. The rule of thumb is to read carefully before clicking anything, don’t sign up for anything you didn’t ask for, updates are good, upgrades are not (unless you want them) and – make sure you always have a backup of anything important.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 33 years, 26 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently works as a computer consultant. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or shaun@musicomp.net.