MacHeist 2 hype begins with email and forum leaks

Frankly, I don't see the draw in me spending my time and effort on some "scavenger hunt" for the favor of getting marketed to. I think this spin on viral marketing is kind of insulting.

Nice! I can't wait. I enjoyed the first MacHeist even though some of the missions were a bit too tough for the average person and the sixth was WAY too long in coming. All in all I got some great software that I enjoy. Some of it I would probably never have heard of or used otherwise. The MacHeist community is what made things fun and much less frustrating when you got stuck.

Omigod! That's My Face On The Picture! Too bad you cut the bottom of it out!

My experience has been that most of the macheist apps given away and in the bundle were end of life versions on the verge of being updated and most of those updates were not free… The developers did just fine, give 'em a little credit, it was a calculated risk and it paid off very well.

@Jon H

" "Yet they want to make as much money as possible to fund their lives, families, and their work."

So they go through MacHeist, and lose money on every sale, but make it up in volume.
Riiiiight."


I think you misunderstood my statement. I am assuming that developers need to make money to be able to develop as a full or part time profession.

Whether MacHeist works for them or not is impossible for me to comment on as I am not a developer, nor do I know any who participated in MacHeist.

You seem certain that this does not work. Are you one of the MacHeist 1 developers? Please share your thoughts with us who know less about this subject.

"Why is TUAW such a whore for these people? Is TUAW paid for the advertising? If not, why? MacHeist makes plenty of money, why aren't they buying ads?"

It is my understanding that TUAW covers a multitude of topics related to Macs, and Apple. It's called reporting. Being a whore is, as far as I know, a different profession all together.

"Why don't they buy advertising?"

Are you suggesting that paid for content, without editorial review, is better than what TUAW does? And should, in that case, indie sw developers pay to be seen on the pages of TUAW?

Where is the limit - if someone makes $10 000 per year from sw should they in that case pay for coverage?
Or is that to high/to low? Share your reasoning with us.

Should that philosophy also extend to newspapers who could simply carry advertisements and not employ journalists?

TUAW does often point out flaws in products by both the biggies like Apple, MS etc, and small developers. As consumers, and professionals in the Mac community, we should appreciate this as it helps us making informed decissions, and thus saves us from spending our $ on louse products.

No of course we're not paid for the advertising. Most people are interested in it in some fashion, at least as a bargain if not as an ARG. I agree that there's no need to go over the top in hype and coverage, but it is a big deal in the Mac software arena, and that's why we'll continue to let you know about it.

"Yet they want to make as much money as possible to fund their lives, families, and their work."

So they go through MacHeist, and lose money on every sale, but make it up in volume.

Riiiiight.

Why is TUAW such a whore for these people? Is TUAW paid for the advertising? If not, why? MacHeist makes plenty of money, why aren't they buying ads?

Hey, one of the Heist organizers here,

I just wanted to clarify that this event is actually very separate from MacHeist 2, which is scheduled for later this year.

Mike, if you'd like some invite codes to give out to TUAW readers, hit me up on AIM under phillryu, and I'd be happy to provide.

@tripdragon

Thank you for your thoughts.

Macupdate.com and VT are both handy, but I see them more as directories, usefull when I look for somthing I already know exists. The ratings do help, but it's a bit overwhelming as I, like most people, don't have hours to spend looking for stuff.

How ever I do appreciate your suggestions.

Are you opposed to any non-developer driven software marketing? It strikes me that many developers want to be very indie, and not seen to "commercialize" their apps as they would get panned by the hardcore Mac community. Yet they want to make as much money as possible to fund their lives, families, and their work.

What would in your mind be a better way to reach the more mainstream part of the Mac community?

Tripdragon may be confusing MacHeist with WasteAWeekend.