limited time demo?

Richard Gaskin ambassador at fourthworld.com
Fri May 4 16:15:13 EDT 2007


Robert Mann wrote:

> Are there any sample scripts showing how I should do this?
> 
> I was thinking of doing it like this 
> 
> On preopenstack
> 
> IF fld "dateopened" is empty THEN
> 
>      put the long system date into fld "dateopened"
> 
>      else
> 
> *      this is where I am having trouble want to check what is in fld
> "datopened" and make sure it is not more than 30 days old if it is don't
> open the stack and post a message

I've written time-limited demos, and they're not only a lot of work but 
are difficult to be really secure with, and the security becomes even 
more onerous now that OSes have built-in ways to conveniently roll back 
systems.

Most of my apps use feature-limited demos, in which the program does at 
least something useful for free.  Not only are they simpler to write, 
but offer these marketing advantages:

1. Getting you app installed is the first step to making a sale.  If the 
app times out, that benefit goes away.  But if the app remains in use, 
every time it's used it serves as a marketing tool for you.  And giving 
away something useful for free means far more prospects will use it than 
a demo only.

2. The purchase price of most software is the smaller cost; far greater 
is the learning curve.  If your app does something useful for free, 
people will be willing to download it and use it, and in time perhaps 
even become dependent on it. Sooner or later they'll need something 
beyond what the free version offers, and with the commitment to using 
your product already in place the choice to pay for a license is a snap.


-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com



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