When the whole mobile/app thing began with Java ME, I thought their prices would be within $10-$25 because programmers would not have to sell physical copies anymore and along came Apple selling mobile software more at $0.99-$5 and even at $5 people think software is too expensive compared to the $40+ they were paying for console games or other programs.
This aggressive dilution of the monetary value of software is what I think contributed the most to the loss of gameplay quality and the near-criminal, constantly-nagging-for-payments-and-ad-views behavior of app publishers today.
Mobile software should have been sold more like shareware used to be sold - free demos with limited functionality -$5 onwards for complete versions.
But now it is too late, the dilution of value of mobile software has only benefited app store owners.
Software development outside of the desktop and enterprise space is only sustainable via services/books/consulting, because no one is paying for software if they can get it for free.
Our customers are annoyed by the concept of spending $1-2k/person on licenses but have no problem with $150-200/hour billing rates, half the time of which is spent showing them how to do things for the nth time. People are funny like that. Not the worst deal from a business perspective but frustrating from an idealistic tech progress one.
This aggressive dilution of the monetary value of software is what I think contributed the most to the loss of gameplay quality and the near-criminal, constantly-nagging-for-payments-and-ad-views behavior of app publishers today.
Mobile software should have been sold more like shareware used to be sold - free demos with limited functionality -$5 onwards for complete versions.
But now it is too late, the dilution of value of mobile software has only benefited app store owners.