Get your thinking caps on, MacHeist is back
Software bundles seem to be all the rage nowadays, but in my humble opinion, MacHeist is still the best. It doesn't just lump a bunch of apps together for special price, but instead, it turns getting a discount into a game.As a recent Mac switcher, I was utterly confused by MacHeist 3, the first edition in which I participated. Someone told me to check out the MacHeist bundle, so I went to the web site to see what applications it contained. But the site didn't tell me. It soon became clear that I was going to have to work for my software!
The whole idea, if you're not familiar with MacHeist, is that you need to complete a series of challenges, labeled "heists," in order to get free software. Yes, free. As in what lunches aren't. And the software isn't anything to sneeze at (neither are lunches, by the way), as there are always some real gems to be found.
UPDATE: We took the 4 from the title as it is currently unknown whether this is actually MacHeist 4 or an early bundle offer.
MINOR SPOILER ALERT
The MacHeist experience begins with some teasing and a small taste of the good stuff. If you visit the web site today, for example, you'll see the "MacHeist Early Warning System" with a view through a telescope. To get the first free app, you'll need to enter in the correct coordinates -- that yields a glimpse of an asteroid apparently intent on impacting something, as noted on the page's Countdown to Impact timer (viewable once you enter the right digits). Those lucky, or resourceful, enough to figure it out are able to download a free copy of DaisyDisk, a $20 utility with a slick interface to display file and folder sizes graphically.
END SPOILER
According to my math, the real fun will begin with the official start of MacHeist 4 at 7:00pm EST on Thursday, November 5th. After that, if history is any indication, visitors will be given heists to complete, yielding more free Mac and iPhone/iPod software, along with discounts on the final bundle. This is what sets MacHeist apart from the other bundles like MacUpdate and The Mac Sale.
The heists are spread out over a variety of participating Mac-related web sites, and incorporate some very clever web programming. In fact, the MacHeist web site itself is usually an interesting site with a few awesome tricks. The design is consistent and adds to the "game feeling" that surrounds what really is just a marketing method to sell software cheaply. The folks at MacHeist definitely have impressive design skills.
Typically, you don't just go to a listed affiliate site, click on a banner link, and get your reward. As I said earlier, you have to work for your software. The MacHeist site serves as a method to get sparse mission instructions that lead to the other participating destinations. Once on the third-party page, MacHeisters are often left on their own to figure out what to even do. Some of the missions have proven to be pretty difficult in the past, at least to those of us who are puzzle-challenged. But, as often happens on the Internet, a community has developed to share ideas, discuss the heists, and yes, even cheat. Not that I would know anything about the cheating.
But the fun doesn't end with the final heist. When the missions are complete, there's a fantastic group of apps that anyone can purchase. That bundle is usually a great deal with a few pieces of expensive software and a collection of smaller apps. In the past, prices have been around $50 for the entire group, with a sizable portion of the revenue going to a worthy charity. For those that completed all the missions, there's usually an even deeper discount. You have to hurry, though, as the MacHeist Bundle is available for purchase for a short period of time, usually only a couple of weeks.
What's in store for this MacHeist? Sorry, but I wouldn't tell you if I even knew. This really is an experience that lasts for several weeks and is worth following along. Sure, you could wimp out and just ask the community for the answers, but then you'd feel guilty using the resulting software. You didn't really earn it, after all.
The MacHeist experience begins with some teasing and a small taste of the good stuff. If you visit the web site today, for example, you'll see the "MacHeist Early Warning System" with a view through a telescope. To get the first free app, you'll need to enter in the correct coordinates -- that yields a glimpse of an asteroid apparently intent on impacting something, as noted on the page's Countdown to Impact timer (viewable once you enter the right digits). Those lucky, or resourceful, enough to figure it out are able to download a free copy of DaisyDisk, a $20 utility with a slick interface to display file and folder sizes graphically.
END SPOILER
According to my math, the real fun will begin with the official start of MacHeist 4 at 7:00pm EST on Thursday, November 5th. After that, if history is any indication, visitors will be given heists to complete, yielding more free Mac and iPhone/iPod software, along with discounts on the final bundle. This is what sets MacHeist apart from the other bundles like MacUpdate and The Mac Sale.
The heists are spread out over a variety of participating Mac-related web sites, and incorporate some very clever web programming. In fact, the MacHeist web site itself is usually an interesting site with a few awesome tricks. The design is consistent and adds to the "game feeling" that surrounds what really is just a marketing method to sell software cheaply. The folks at MacHeist definitely have impressive design skills.
Typically, you don't just go to a listed affiliate site, click on a banner link, and get your reward. As I said earlier, you have to work for your software. The MacHeist site serves as a method to get sparse mission instructions that lead to the other participating destinations. Once on the third-party page, MacHeisters are often left on their own to figure out what to even do. Some of the missions have proven to be pretty difficult in the past, at least to those of us who are puzzle-challenged. But, as often happens on the Internet, a community has developed to share ideas, discuss the heists, and yes, even cheat. Not that I would know anything about the cheating.
But the fun doesn't end with the final heist. When the missions are complete, there's a fantastic group of apps that anyone can purchase. That bundle is usually a great deal with a few pieces of expensive software and a collection of smaller apps. In the past, prices have been around $50 for the entire group, with a sizable portion of the revenue going to a worthy charity. For those that completed all the missions, there's usually an even deeper discount. You have to hurry, though, as the MacHeist Bundle is available for purchase for a short period of time, usually only a couple of weeks.
What's in store for this MacHeist? Sorry, but I wouldn't tell you if I even knew. This really is an experience that lasts for several weeks and is worth following along. Sure, you could wimp out and just ask the community for the answers, but then you'd feel guilty using the resulting software. You didn't really earn it, after all.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anthony La said 7:58AM on 11-04-2009
Well for the most part, the free apps are things you "work" for, and the bundle is just there. If you do any work though, you DO get discounts, alone of which are really awesome.
Reply
Bad Accident said 8:23AM on 11-04-2009
I'm sorry, but you guys should not be blogging this. Why do you always give 'ol Philly Ryu attention? He's a talentless hack that has made millions off of Mac developers. The only person that benefits from Mac Heist or any of the other stupid things he does is Ryu. Look at his monumental failure that is My Dream App. How much money did he make on that? How much money did any one else make? Wow, he took the entire Mac community for a ride and screwed them all over. Don't even get me started on that Austin kid.
Reply
THJ said 10:17AM on 11-04-2009
The vein in your forehead is about to burst.
blachole said 10:27AM on 11-04-2009
Don't be mad that they beat you to the punch of a great idea..it happens..
MacHeist is one of the best things to happen to the Mac community who know about it. They always have killer deals and free software that's worth using..
puhsitch said 5:02PM on 11-04-2009
If he has all that evil swimming in his blood, wouldn't you expect developers to, you know, not get involved with him and stuff?
racco said 8:46AM on 11-04-2009
Always fun, and one of (if no the) friendliest/most helpful Mac user forum online today
Reply
ryan said 9:36AM on 11-04-2009
From what I've read from past MacHeists, the apps are usually not eligible for future upgrade pricing. In other words, when an upgrade comes along you must pay full price; is this true?
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Kevin Harter said 9:45AM on 11-04-2009
I've never had a problem upgrading the handful of apps I've tried, but at least one of them gave a different price for MacHeist buyers. Can't think of which app that was, sorry. Still, given the price of the bundle, upgrade pricing isn't a huge concern to me.
blachole said 10:12AM on 11-04-2009
I haven't had any issues with this..the license a lot of the devs give out it a full license, minus a few software titles they gave out last year that were special "macheist" versions..
utterer said 10:33AM on 11-04-2009
Most of the apps given away for free are junkware that you can usually find a much nicer open source equivalent of or never really needed in the first place. Most of the bundle software is from developers/publishers who are on the verge of a X.0 release and looking to bring over the people who haven't already purchased the app full price and then since it is a X.0 update they can offer a discounted upgrade pricing.
JJ said 2:23PM on 11-04-2009
@utterer
And don't forget about the overly ambitious apps that never really make it out of beta. Right now I've got Espresso and The Hit List, both of which were beta for last year's heist (though technically Macrabbit slapped a 1.0 on Espresso a day before the heist).
As I understand it, a full heist later and the Hit List is still in beta while Espresso has pretty much languished. The last post on the MacRabbit's blog is from August and that was only to counter the rumor that Espresso was a dead product.
Even still, I can't help but like MacHeist. Sure the only MacHeist apps I still use are CSSEdit (which I don't think has been updated since the 2007 heist) and the ever amazing 1Password, but MacHeist remains a fun way to explore lots of cool, new apps.
BSBarrows said 10:37AM on 11-04-2009
Yea, there is usually no problem at all with licensing, and most of my software I have received has got free upgrades (minus a couple here and there that are $10) Overall the community is what keeps a lot of people coming to MacHeist, the Forums and Chat room can provide a lot of information and John Casasanta, Scott Mizner and Phill Ryu always are nice to talk to and fast to email you back. Say what you want, but I really enjoy MacHeist. :D Now, about MH4 starting, this is not MacHeist 4, we know this, this is just a pre-season game to warm people up, then there will be the giving tree in December with MacHeist 4 coming in January, this is what history tells us anyway.
Reply
RTZ said 10:41AM on 11-04-2009
Hmm got the Daisy Disk app, but it still has a '15 days left, buy now' button, so it would seem I didn't get a license... anyone has any idea what's wrong?
Reply
londor said 10:54AM on 11-04-2009
Did you enter the licence?
Drakhul said 11:40AM on 11-04-2009
You need to enter the registration info you saw onscreen just above the download button...
Nuts said 11:48AM on 11-04-2009
Go into the Daisydisk-menu, choose Registration, enter your name and number. Presto!
Its a great gift. Ive been thinking of buying this app for a while.
RTZ said 4:24PM on 11-04-2009
Thanks, got it now... sometimes I suck at reading :-)
rampancy said 11:01AM on 11-04-2009
Just a clarification of some of the misconceptions of this post and some of the comments here:
a) This is likely not MacHeist 4 (though anything is possible from the coordinators of MacHeist, known as "The Directorate"). MacHeist 2 and MacHeist 3 both started in the early part of the following year, so I'd expect MH4 to be in Jan.-Feb. 2010.
b) There is usually a "mid-term" activity between full-on MacHeist seasons; between MH1 and MH2, there was a "SkunkWorks" activity culminating in a cooperative bundle between MacUpdate Promo and MacHeist; between MH2 and MH3 there was a mini-bundle featuring Parallels Desktop. This latest promo is likely a lead-in to another promotional deal or mini-bundle.
c) Some apps given as *loot* during MacHeist are generally considered to be high-quality apps from developers, with some developers deciding to give out full software licenses on par with paid-for/retail licenses. During past MacHeists, WonderWarp Software and Agile Web Solutions gave out full licenses for their software, under the same terms as their for-pay customers; DEVON Technologies did the same with DEVONNote and DEVONThink (which came with a discount for an upgrade to 2.0). I wouldn't call apps like 1Password or ShoveBox "junkware".
Other developers offer significant discounts on upgrades; Hyperspaces comes to mind here. The developer of Hyperspaces, Tony Arnold (of VirtueDesktops fame), is supporting his customers all the way through the 1.0 final of his product.
d) For bundle apps, *all* of the applications sold come with licenses that are the same as if you had bought them directly from the developer, the only exception being TextMate sold during MH1 in 2006 which did not come with a free upgrade to TextMate 2.0 (instead being discounted for-pay upgrade). Complaints over apps sold which came with quick for-pay upgrades were over RapidWeaver and SpeedDownload; in both cases it was the same for people who had bought directly from their developers after a certain date, and in the case of SpeedDownload, YazSoft later gave their MacHeist customers a free upgrade to SD5.
There are plenty of valid reasons to criticize MacHeist, but these reasons are tired and often-refuted arguments which amount to little more than FUD and baseless character assassinations against both the people participating in MacHeist, and the developers who support them.
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Griffin said 2:51PM on 11-04-2009
FYI, Textmate is now a paid upgrade for everyone, not just people who got MH licenses. That's also assuming that there will be a TM 2.0.
Joey said 3:04PM on 11-04-2009
"FYI, Textmate is now a paid upgrade for everyone, not just people who got MH licenses. That's also assuming that there will be a TM 2.0."
That's a pretty big assumption ya got there...