Chances are, you've used this program already. If you spend a lot of time downloading and/or uploading files from websites, WinRAR is a fast way to do both. That means you've also seen this message:
But, why does WinRAR allow this?
As it turns out, WinRAR is actually meant to be free - when the CEO, Burak Canboy, was interviewed and asked about piracy, he replied, "...we already have a very liberal way of allowing users to continue using our software after the trial-period is over. Many users actually believe our software is freeware, and why would you bother about using a pirated and potentially harmful version if the original can be used instead?"
WinRAR was never meant to be bought by individual consumers. If you check out the license offers, there is an option for a single computer, but also options for up to 999 computers. These are for companies, who are the ones buying WinRAR licenses. They have an incentive to do so, because using "pirated" software could cause them to be sanctioned or prosecuted.
WinRAR's business model, is then, pretty genius - give it out for free to individual users, who introduce it to their companies, which then buy hundreds or even thousands of units of their product. Using incentive and supply/demand, WinRAR is a very profitable "free" product.
It's interesting considering whether Napster could've come up with a business model like WinRAR's. Although they couldn't have sold to companies, they had so many customers that they could've offered a "premium" version of the application costing extra money, and used that money to pay artists for the right to use their music on Napster.
ReplyDeleteI've always found the "free trial" concept pretty interesting. Usually, I think of it as the company almost trying to trick the user-- they'll have you enter your payment information, and once your free trial time period is over, they charge you right away before you even realize. For example, entertainment streaming services like Netflix and Hulu offer this type of trial. However, it is interesting to consider the other reasons for free trials. Getting single users to spread information and help the company gain new, buying customers is like free advertising. In general, free trials allow the user to try the product and decide if they like it, which is useful for the consumer. Free trials likely don't cost companies much, especially because they often offer such short trial periods, so overall they seem to benefit both producer and consumer.
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