The way this was handled certainly has an "ick" factor, but I wonder if it will matter from a pure business perspective in the end. Hell. It may even help. It's got a lot of people talking about her...
Here are some other thoughts/questions:
1) Users have been receiving free upgrades for years, meaning she received no additional revenues from them. I wonder many of the vocal unhappy users would upgrade to the app store version anyway if she just called this 3.0. How "valuable" is the livid segment of her existing customerbase?
2) The app store will allow her to reach new users that don't know or care about the developers. The Mac App Store is a black box where the developer reputation doesn't seem to matter much, unless its reflected in the reviews. Think about buying an iPhone app... Have you ever researched the reputation of a dev before buying a $4.99 iPhone app? My brother would just buy the app and be happy as a clam.
3) She has 70 reviews in the store so far. Only 1 mentions this and gives her 1-star. Many give 5 stars and some talk about how they are happy to pay for this upgrade.
Again, not condoning the behavior... Just thinking out loud.
Here are some other thoughts/questions:
1) Users have been receiving free upgrades for years, meaning she received no additional revenues from them. I wonder many of the vocal unhappy users would upgrade to the app store version anyway if she just called this 3.0. How "valuable" is the livid segment of her existing customerbase?
2) The app store will allow her to reach new users that don't know or care about the developers. The Mac App Store is a black box where the developer reputation doesn't seem to matter much, unless its reflected in the reviews. Think about buying an iPhone app... Have you ever researched the reputation of a dev before buying a $4.99 iPhone app? My brother would just buy the app and be happy as a clam.
3) She has 70 reviews in the store so far. Only 1 mentions this and gives her 1-star. Many give 5 stars and some talk about how they are happy to pay for this upgrade.
Again, not condoning the behavior... Just thinking out loud.