In computer software, there is a diverse range of developers and software companies and with this diversity comes diversity of monetary schemes. Like hardware, software may be expensive to produce more due to time & effort in developing software, than cost of physical materials to produce.
Like media, a consumer who uses a particular software good (operating systems, software applications or tools) doesn't actually own the software outright, they own a licence to use that persons' or organisations' work.
Many organisations, licenses, models and strategies exist to give consumers freedom of choice when using computer software.
When it comes to pricing and business models, the terms Free, Freemium and Premium come to mind.
Premium: (alternative word: Paid) Definitions of this term include "a sum added to an ordinary price or charge" or in this case, an item you have to pay for. The receiver gives money to the bearer (person or organisation) of a product or service expecting that product or service in return. Supposedly without restriction. Examples include Microsoft products such as Windows or MS-Office
Free: As with anything free, a good or service that can be consumed at no charge or restriction to the receiver. A software product is issued for free to be installed on a computer wherever the product was sourced, such being downloaded from the developers website. Although these products are free, sometimes developers may implement advertising into their works as to earn back any cost of producing the product. Whether or not the developer or company stand to make money.
Both terms & definitions are as simple as they get, but:
Freemium: (yes, this is a genuine word) This term is a portmanteau (or combination) of both former terms above. If an item is offered using the "freemium" business model, then that means the item is free to start using with a few caveats being that certain components or features are disabled or locked behind a paid fee.
Additional:
Shareware: Sometimes if a software product is shareware, then its somewhat comparable to Freemium that is allowed and encouraged to be shared & copied. It may be sourced from a third party website or issued on physical media (CD, DVD, Floppy Disk, USB Flashdrive) via a magazine or newspaper.
Trialware: Premium software products can many times be downloaded & installed from a developers website for free, but may only be usable for a set deadline (for instance a 30-day trial period) until the user is asked to pay in order to continue using the product. This is called Trialware.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks For The Comment!