Steff.me

Hello, I’m Steff and I’m an idiot consumer. I noticed the other day while food shopping, that whenever there is a deal on a particular item like “buy two save 50p”, then I’ll buy two. Even if that items costs ten pounds, why does it matter because I just saved money. The amount of money that I save is negligible compared to how much I have to pay out to get the discount and I don’t even want the majority of it. Why am I such an idiot?

Over the past year I’ve purchased a number of Mac software deals, bundles and packages that contain a lot of applications that I really don’t want. The only reason that I buy is that there’ll be one app that I kinda, sorta, maybe want and I’m getting a great deal on the rest.

Just to give an idea of the sort of packages I’ve wasted my money on, here’s a quick list of some (and I stress that, this isn’t everything) of the applications that I’ve bought that I have no use for and have not used:

• Alarm Clock Pro
• Art Collector
• Assignment Planner
• Audiobook Builder
• Cast Life
• Chat Transcript Manager
• CheckBook
• Connoisseur
• Data Guardian
• Direct Mail
• Docktop
• DrawIt
• FileChute
• FolderBrander
• FotoMagico
• Hawkeye
• HoudahSpot
• iClip
• iLingo Euro
• iPulse
• KIT
• Mac Pilot
• Mori
• Musicast
• NewsFire
• PhotoPresenter
• photoprinto
• PhotoStickies
• PHP Studio
• pzizz
• QuickScale
• RadioLover
• RapidWeaver
• rooSwitch
• Screen Saver Menu
• shadowClipboard 3
• SnapNDrag
• Stickler!
• Translation Service
• Voice Candy
• xPad (now free)
• Xslimmer

So why am I telling you all this? Honestly, I’m trying to talk myself out of buying another “bundle” of Mac apps. If you’re a Mac geek like me, then you can’t have failed to notice the hype around another MacHeist bundle has been released.

The deal this time is that you purchase a bundle from MacUpdate and Phil Ryu and the gang give you some extra bonuses. The MacUpdate package contains GraphicConverter, Fetch, iWOW, GarageSale, Cocktail, ProfCast, and Amadeus Pro. Also, if enough people purchase the bundle more software gets unlocked. At 2,000 sales Little Snitch gets unlocked, at 4,000 sales Intaglio gets unlocked and at 9,999 sales TechTool Pro gets unlocked. That’s a total of $219.88 worth of software, for just $49.99 (saving of 77%).

But wait, there’s more!
The MacHeist team have decided to throw in BrowseBack, Exces, earlier access to a Pixelmator beta, early access to a Flow beta, a free ticket to access the next project their working on and one more “great” app.

So now that I’ve set up the fact that I am a complete idiot by buying software and anything and everything that I really don’t need, is it wise to go ahead and buy this bundle?

Yeah. You don’t want to be “that guy” who gives this one up.
– MacHeist skunk works blog

That’s right, talk down to me like the idiot I am. I really don’t want to be “that guy” who everyone laughs at and pokes fun of later on because I didn’t blow my money on this amazing, incredible, super deal. Let’s look logically at this for one minute… What applications out of this bundle of software would I ever use and what would make the list of apps shown above?

• GraphicConverter - graphics editing, converting and general manipulation. Cool on paper but I wouldn’t use it.
• Fetch - I already own YummyFTP, CaptainFTP and Coda… do I really need another FTP app? Also, why would I care about this with they are also giving away access to another FTP app named Flow?
• iWoW - I’m sorry, very rarely do I listen to music. I have no need for this iTunes plugin that gives more “thump”.
• GarageSale - eBay client. I was actually tempted to buy this when it came out as I tried a demo and I actually really enjoyed it. I don’t use eBay all that much, though, as I tend to just hang on to things until they break and then I just throw them out (or put them in the attic).
• Cocktail - OnyX, enough said. Also I’m pretty sure that one of my purchased apps from above, MacPilot, does a similar job too.
• ProfCast - excuse me, record my lectures? I have around six to eight hours of lectures a week and of those it’s better to actually read the handouts than it is listen to them. I’d like to say sorry to my lecturers but I just feel I learn more in my own time than I do in a lecture theatre (with the exception of Antony Galton, as if he’d ever read this).
• Amadeus Pro - some form of sound recorder/editor. No thanks.

Super, awesome, amazing unlockable apps

• Little Snitch - throws an alert if something tries to establish an outgoing network connection. This seems incredibly useful on paper, however in my day to day usage I’d probably just see it as a waste of system resources. It’s one of those things that I’d like to have around but probably never use.
• Intaglio - drawing and illustrations aren’t really my forte. Also, I wouldn’t bother with this when I could just use that other application called Pixelator!
• TechTool Pro - hard drive repair and maitenance, eh? Reading the descriptions it sounds like it could be useful but it seems like another backup utility because I’ve had my hard drive fail before and there was nothing that could be done about it. Come October I’ll be using Leopard and I’ll have Time Machine as a backup and if any hard drives fail then hopefully at least something is backed up. Then I can wander off to the store and just buy a new hard drive. Speaking of hard drives, I want a drobo. On another slightly random note, TechTool claims to defragment files across your computer so that it can run at “its peak”; tests have actually been done using iDefrag and apparently you really don’t need to do it on your Mac.

For more information on the aforementioned applications, check out the MacUpdate Promo page featuring the bundle.

Of the original ten applications that MacUpdate was offering, I would use two maybe three. Let’s see if MacHeist can, as they claim to, “sweeten the pot”:

• BrowseBack - very, very rarely do I ever browse the history of my web browser. Anything that I find interesting I tag in del.icio.us or bookmark. As cool as this application seems, it would be a waste of space for me.
• Exces - password protect private documents? I don’t even password protect my login, other passwords or details. I’ve already claimed to be an idiot, I don’t need to be told again.
• Pixelmator beta - awesome, great stuff. I can’t wait to get my hands on this app to start playing around. As much as I don’t like or use graphics software, this one seems to be made with style and looks to be bringing in the fun.
• Flow beta - when I first saw this app I was using the demo of Transmit. Watching it blow Transmit’s upload time completely out of the water was quite impressive, however since then I’ve purchased Coda. Coda seems to be incredibly fast when editing external files or uploading to an FTP, so I have no need for another FTP app.
• Golden ticket - Willy Wonka has apparently taken over MacHeist. No, I don’t care what their new venture is.
• Surprise app - they have to don’t they? As if everything above wasn’t enough to part you with your hard-earned (possibly) $50… there’s the tempation of the One More Thing.

Sidenote on the Pixelmator and Flow: notice how they are both beta licenses. You can bet that the beta will last around about a month, at which point you’ll have to fork out around $80 to get the apps if you so choose to. I can’t remember if they’d discussed prices but I’d stab in the dark of a $60 price tag on Pixelmator alone; heck, I’ll pay that. Flow will want to compete with Transmit (as if it isn’t already) and will probably drop just under its price.

One of the last things that the MacHeist blog post says also slightly irritates me

After all, who would you trust more: a sincere pirate or a dishonest thief?
– MacHeist skunk works blog

Sincere pirate? Dishonest thief? I can’t make up my mind exactly where they stand with that remark.

Anyone remember the fiasco with MacHeist with some developers claiming to have not been paid enough (a small, fixed, flat fee… whereas the MacHeist team made a fortune) and with very little of the money made going to charity? The whole thing was blogged about by every Tom, Dick and Harry who had an opinion; fanboi and hater alike. My favourite post on the matter was by John Gruber, entitled I Sold My App Through MacHeist and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. I’d recommend reading that as it sums up the entire affair without really taking sides.

How do you feel about this bundle of applications? Are they of any use to you and will you purchased or have you purchased the bundle? Let me know if you think I’m even more of an idiot for still considering buying this myself, even after this post. Any thoughts and comments are always welcome.