Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Developer
The Speed Download - Macheist saga
A while back we posted on the release of Speed Download 5, and that set off a firestorm in the comments. You see, Speed Download 4 was included in the recent Macheist bundle, but the developer Yazsoft was not offering free upgrades for the Macheist purchasers. This despite the fact that anyone who purchased SD 4 directly from Yazsoft between Jan 01, 2008 and Feb 12, 2008 (during which time Macheist ran) was eligible for the free upgrade. Further, Macheist purchasers were led to believe that they were getting full versions of the software included in the bundle. Yazsoft offered Macheist purchasers the same $15 upgrade price that users of SD4 who purchased before Jan 1 are eligible for.
In the aftermath, Yazsoft has twice offered a rationale for their actions, basically arguing that the Macheist deal was only for SD4 which they continue to support. Yazsoft insists that they only promised free updates (within a version number), not free upgrades (to a new version number). When this didn't work they originally tried to placate the Macheist customers with a 2 for 1 deal offering them two licenses of SD5 for the same $15 upgrade price. The brouhaha also brought a response from MacHeist Director John Casasanta accusing Yazsoft of "malicious intent." Perhaps most surprising of all is that there apparently was no contract between Yazsoft and Macheist, the entire thing being settled in informal emails.
Now I purchased the Macheist bundle with my own money and when SD5 was released I did not feel in any way cheated. I figured that I got a good deal on the bundle; I liked SD4 and did not really see the need to upgrade. However, there are aspects of the entire mess that call for some sort of rectification.
First, the SD5 update was pushed down via the automatic updating system, apparently catching many people by surprise when they discovered it was a paid upgrade. Second, the Macheist site made it very clear that purchasers were getting the full versions of the software they were buying, not time-limited or non-upgradeable versions. That being the case, Yazsoft's chief sin in my mind is not in making SD5 a paid upgrade, but treating those who purchased SD4 from Macheist differently than customers who purchased SD4 directly from Yazsoft on the very same day. That just seems unfair. At the same time, it seems a bit of a leap to accuse them of "malicious intent" (though obviously all the relevant details have not been made public).
In their most recent statement Yazsoft has now offered Macheist owners a free copy of SD6 whenever that ships well in the future. I'd also like to see Yazsoft make available a very easy way to downgrade SD5 back to SD4 for anyone who mistakenly upgraded. The lesson of this entire episode is that it's important for everyone to be clear about what they're selling and for customers to be clear about what they're buying. And for this, I place some of the fault on Macheist as well, as their website did not make the mechanics of the sale entirely obvious, particularly about how the sales thresholds worked. At the same time consumers can't expect to get hundreds of dollars worth of software for cheap and then be surprised when the developers want to recoup costs on paid upgrades.
This entire mess was generated by a lack of transparency on the part all the parties involved. In the end, however, I think the charitable conclusion is that these were honest mistakes. Yazsoft themselves could have avoided the problems just by waiting a little longer to release SD5 and thereby not treating the Macheist customers as second class citizens. It will be interesting to see if this tempest in a teapot ends up scuttling future bundle deals of the sort. That would be a shame, since I do think these bundles provide a genuine service to the Mac software community.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Mitch said 1:35PM on 2-24-2008
i'm still disappointed in the behavior of the macheist 'directorate' - the words they've used to describe the vendors has been inappropriate.
i also cannot fathom that this time around (after last year's troubles) that they didn't get contracts with the vendors. They made a lot of money, but they sure missed learning that lesson.
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Steven said 1:35PM on 2-24-2008
The MacHeist deal was a good deal, but since they weren't up front with the people purchasing the software, and Yazsoft showed everyone what they are really about (cheating their customers), I have decided never to participate in MacHeist and have deleted SD4 from my hard drive.
Goodbye and Good Riddance to bad rubbish.
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Big John said 2:06PM on 2-24-2008
Wow. Good thing you're lumping all the other developers with Yazsoft. They sure deserve it!
MacHeist was extremely clear. They thought they were offering a full version. Yazsoft was being deceptive here. I was pretty surprised when I heard that SD5 was forcing users to upgrade. Thankfully I took the rational route of not caring since I didn't use it in the first place and the rest of my MacHeist stuff? Works *just fine* and just as advertised.
Pete said 10:16AM on 2-25-2008
I don't get it -- they DID offer a full version as I understand it, just not the very latest (actually it was, but not for long).
This is common -- PC mags often give away slightly older versions of major software for free, so a heavily discounted version is nothing surprising and still seems fair to me.
pangelav said 1:33PM on 2-24-2008
Honest 'mistakes'? Possibly by Macheist, but it's obvious that Yazsoft new exactly what they were doing, just perhaps ignorant of the consequences.
And why no free update to version 5 now, instead of being forced to wait like 2nd class customers for a non-existent version 6? That's completely unsatisfactory.
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mentalsticks said 1:58PM on 2-24-2008
>Possibly by Macheist, but it's obvious that Yazsoft new exactly what they were doing
Wow. You must be psychic. You moron.
Brian said 2:39PM on 2-24-2008
Nice mentalsticks, jump straight to the insults.
By the sounds of the "press release" from Yazsoft, to get V6, you must pay the $15 and get v5. Seems a little not-right to me.
mentalsticks said 7:30PM on 2-24-2008
The reason I called pangelav a moron (by which i stand, btw) is that he, like many of you, have an inherent belief that the macheist directorate are the good guys. It is, and always has been, their word against yazsoft's. They both have a lot to lose, and neither has shown any proof of what was negotiated. So really, we outsiders don't know shit.
Also, I don't see any reason why Casasanta cum sui would not be a bunch of crooks. This issue is not the first they've had with the shareware developing community, and remember that there's literally millions at stake here, and their cut is the biggest of all.
Yazdgerd said 1:26AM on 2-25-2008
Been a Mac user for years and never used SpeedDownload. Is it really that great? Just some downloader. There are far better options around, and way more stable. You are just advertising for greedy developers.
And BTW, Oh please change that ugly SD icon. You have now a lot of money, so please hire a well trained designer.
Kjell said 1:35PM on 2-24-2008
the SD5 update was pushed down via the automatic updating system, apparently catching many people by surprise when they discovered it was a paid upgrade.
Exactly what happend to me.. I tried to unlock for about 10 minutes or so until i realized that there seems to be no way to activate it with my bought key.
I contacted the support right away to ask what's going on and the told me that this is a paid upgrade, and that i am free to go ahead and buy it.. I didn't told them that i got that license from MacHeist initially by the way...
However: I deleted SpeedDownload 5 and never installed 4 again. I was very upset about this "upgrade information".
I never had any Mac Software that i had to pay for after i followed the automatic upgrade notification and that's why i just blindly install them.. YazSoft simply abused my trust there.. I will read such notifications twice from now on!!
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MephistoQC said 1:36PM on 2-24-2008
Um, if the upgrade went anything like mine, which I've yet to decide if I'll purchase, the previous version of Speed Download.app (it says 4.1.19) is sitting in my trash. An easy downgrade involves just copying that back into Applications.
I'm hoping most people that went through this Macheist thing were smart enough to keep whatever .dmg's they downloaded as backup. I'm not sure if Macheist allows you to redownload things you've purchased or not, in this case it'd be a good idea if they did. I'm not seeing why this is a big deal, you can decline the update if you want, and it's a simple task to go back to a work 4.x version.
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NM said 1:45PM on 2-24-2008
You can still download SD4 to downgrade (http://yazsoft.com/files/mh/sd4119mh.zip).
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Evan said 2:12PM on 2-24-2008
The MacHeist license doesn't work with the SD4 download from Yazsofts website. Yet another example of deeming MacHeist users: 2nd class users.
Jon H said 2:25PM on 2-24-2008
" Yet another example of deeming MacHeist users: 2nd class users."
You get what you pay for. Whining cheapskates just come off sounding like spoiled children.
Evan said 2:41PM on 2-24-2008
I could give two shits whether I get SD5 or not. That still doesn't take away that Yazsofts actions still portray MacHeist users as 2nd class.
steven W Riggins said 2:23PM on 2-24-2008
I deleted speed download. Sorry Yazsoft, skanky companies don't get my current nor future business.
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jkuehn said 1:48PM on 2-24-2008
I purchased the Macheist Bundle, and when the SD5 upgrade release came out I was a little annoyed, but hey--I got a good deal [with the Macheist bundle] in the first place, I had already gotten my money's worth from SD4, and I was pleased with the charitable aspect of the Macheist bundle. I paid the $15 for the upgrade because I prefer to stay up with current versions of my software. Call it all an honest mistake, call it a mild deception on the part of Yazsoft, or call it poor explanation of conditions by Macheist. Frankly, I don't care which one you choose--because all in all I received great value in my original purchase. Life is too short for me to fret over $15.
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Neil said 1:50PM on 2-24-2008
Phill Ryu and that John Red guy were deceitful again?
Why don't you people learn from the past? These guys CANNOT be trusted.
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Big John said 2:11PM on 2-24-2008
Except that they were deceived up front.
Close, though. Thanks for playing!
Maciek said 7:40PM on 2-24-2008
Yeah, Mark Howson for example is the one to trust!