This is much better than my approach of acquiring obsolete versions of competitors' software to qualify for then-generous "competitive upgrades" that were often themselves available at steep discounts when the next version dropped.

For instance, there was not much of a market for the PCjr version of Lotus 1-2-3 in the early '90s when I used it to qualify for the $20 competitive upgrade to Excel 4.0 I found in the bargain bin at a local electronics retailer after Excel 5.0 released, which of course qualified me for even less expensive (not than $20) version upgrades in the future, not only to Excel, but to the full Office suite.