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A comment on The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret. Parent comment

Re:The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret by ProAm on Thursday May 07, 2020 @02:56PM (#23106769)
> Unfortunately, a lot of tech companies have (perhaps unintentionally) conditioned consumers to expect software to be free

I think Apple started this movement with the App Store and the .99 cent app. I think it coincided with the shift from on-prem software to cloud, but that really shifted what people can charge for software. We've seen a bit of a shift back the last ~5 years maybe? But I still think it the App store started the current epoch.

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Re:The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret by WalterBright on Thursday May 07, 2020 @02:58PM (#23106800)
It was the internet that made software free, starting with the browser, and continuing with the adoption of Linux with its free tools.
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Re:The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret by tonyedgecombe on Friday May 08, 2020 @04:30AM (#23112646)
Yes, it's been a long term trend. Prices tend to decline towards their marginal cost. In the case of software this is close to zero.

Hence companies like MicroSoft are shifting towards services.

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