John Gruber at Daring Fireball points to a post at Wired Up And Fired Up concerning their experiences putting Relaunch on MacZot. This all centers around John’s recent post, Pinprick, about developers hawking their wares at reduced prices. Apparently Relaunch’s MacZot experiment resulted in no discernable sales increase.
John’s opinions regarding discounted software is sound, but I disagree with his theory that if you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door (i.e., “if your app is well done and the idea is appealing, it won’t languish in obscurity for long”). I’ve been using OS X for almost a year and MacZot has introduced me to many apps I would’ve never found on my own. Google isn’t always as helpful as it should be. I don’t believe MacZot is the best answer, but it’s the best answer I’ve found thus far. Frankly, I’m not that concerned with the discounts. If it’s an app I need, performs well and is well supported, I’ll buy it. My problem has been finding apps I need. There’s too much noise out there and MacZot, for better or worse, provides a decent spotlight with somewhat focused community commentary.
Regarding Relaunch, I’ve tried it and deleted it. In all fairness, it was a few months back and the app has probably improved quite a bit since then. However, it didn’t work as advertised for me so when it appeared on MacZot, I moved on. Been there and done that. I probably need to revisit the app because it definitely scratches a recurring itch. Relaunch was a high profile app on a different Mac-related website at some point in the not-too-distant past or I would’ve never found it. (While the problem it addresses is something I’d like to see addressed, it’s not problematic enough that I’ve actively sought a solution.) Having an app receive a lot of publicity before it’s ready for prime time is almost as bad as having a good application languish in obscurity. I’m not saying this is absolutely the case with Relaunch, but it was most certainly the case with me.