Time To Kill, Part II: Software

Previously, our hero was just coming to the end of the build-your-own-computer aisle in a technology outlet store. He would have spent more time salivating over the parts, but time was limited and there was more to see and do, so he moved on to the next aisle: the software isle.

These days, one does not do much software shopping in an outlet store.  You might find a good variety at Fry’s, but the rest of the stores gave up on most software long ago.  No, that high speed internet has hit a high enough saturation point that developers would rather sell their products digitally.  It saves them the cost of having to put boxes with discs  on store shelves, as well as the percentage of the sale that went to those retailers.  Developers are also able to prevent sharing and resale when you do not own a physical copy.  Still, you expect to find certain software at the outlet store. Retailers would roll over and die before they gave up on the idea that they should just sell machines and let other people rake in all the software money.

The first software you expect to find is games. These are not good games, mind you.  These are the ten-dollar boxes that have been floating around various stores for the last fifteen years.  They are slot machine games and jewel games that were around long before PopCap started turning casual gaming into a major money enterprise. They are the titles that failed to compete with the big boys and for which you can expect no product support as the companies have long since gone out of business. They are also the over-produced copies of old popular games.  A Diablo II  or Starcraft Battle chest is almost always standard.  The days of this section of the store are numbered. Once upon a time, the games would have been an aisle or at least half the available software.  Now it is one little section at the end of an aisle quite sad and almost universally passed over by anyone who enters the aisle.

The next thing you expect to see (which I was rather astonished by the absence of) are operating systems. Well… really, various versions of the latest windows operating system and maybe a couple of Linux boxes (strictly for the Li-curious, as a true Linux Master could probably MacGuyver it onto a fresh box using only the power of the mind and a USB drive).  I cannot explain the absence.  You can bring home all the nifty parts you want but if you do not have an operating system to install after the BIOS flashes, the machine is just a very large energy sucking paperweight. [Editor's Note: Game developers aren't the only ones shipping digitally, Rich.  Besides, how else do you expect them to stock the shelves of Microsoft Retail Outlets?]

What I did find was various versions of Sony video editing software ranging in price from seventy to two-hundred dollars.  I hate that.  I hate when a company makes a product and deliberately gimps the version down to almost uselessness.  I swear now that if a software developer starts making applications that include all the bells and whistles and sells it for a reasonable price, I will stay product loyal.  I will upgrade when the time comes and I will extol the virtue of their product to everyone I encounter. Do I need a top of the line video or audio editing package? No, but I’m more than willing to take advantage of said technology.  Do I need the business power house version of Windows? Definitely not, but if I had it I probably would not consider even consider trying to install Linux on another machine.

We came to the end of the software aisle somewhat mystified at the scarceness.  It was time to leave.

Image courtesy of Penny-Arcade.com