No additional loss is incurred by my using a pirated copy.
I think you are putting absolutely no value on the concept of 'motivation' as a reason why a software developer decides to improve the product and/or release new wares. If they didn't pay their bills with the first release because they sold 100 copies, even though their product is listed in the top 100 most POPULAR app on the intrawebs...do you think they will be highly motivated to do it again?
Lets do some basic math here: If a developer spends, say, 1000 hours (roughly 6 months full time, 40hrs/week effort) writing the code for a product that they sell, and they sell 100 copies of that software at $10 each, their net INVESTMENT of time equates out to about 1 hour = $1 of their time. So to get to even minimum, hamburger-slinging wage levels, they gotta get that investment up to what...9 bucks an hour? OK, that means they need to sell 900 copies of the software to even be at the poverty level.
Motivation is huge. They put a lot of time into that whatever-it-is and gotta sell 900 licenses to equate to the same standard of living they could get working at McDonald's. And software development is a creative outlet...I assure you most good developers are accustomed to far more than McWages before they left their real jobs to focus on doing something that they love and think makes you happy as a user of their wares. But take away that motivation and how many do you think just give up? The cost isn't just a freely-distributable chunk of code that has no tangible value. If it has no value, as you seem to indicate...why are you even bothering to try it? It has potential value to you, but you can't see that it has the same potential value to the author as well?
Now if you are Blizzard, do you think you can sell 900 of your newest game? Heck yeah, you are a proven entity...Blizzard can sneeze and people will buy the used tissues as collectibles. But for a new guy, just entering the app store with the newest iGame/iApp, thats not a small hurdle to overcome. So if you've got 6 months choice on how to spend your time, where would you invest it? Making something you think people really want, or working at a McWage job to guarantee yourself you'll make the rent next month?
You know, it's really funny but I only run into these kinds of debates online. In real life, nobody I have EVER talked to has any kinds of moral qualms, dilemas or issues with this kind of thing.
How many of your everyday friends are independent software developers who earn their living, pay for their mortgages, etc. by selling software that they personally write? Its never an issue when you assume that its some "giant, faceless, greedy corporation," right? But what about when its a small guy just trying to squeak out a living and hoping you'll buy his software and not pirate it?
Most people don't have qualms about it likely because they think of software as a public domain object and not as intellectual property. Do you know what its called when you take someone else's property without paying for it?
This is the very nature of buying software...you buy a license to use it. Its called the EULA. You don't ever buy the intellectual property...you buy a license to use it. But you take the license and use it without paying for it, for whatever purpose, and its just that...you took someone else's property without paying for it.
I don't expect to convert you to my way of thinking. But I do hope you'll realize that there are creative people on the other side of that page of apps you may be 'sampling.'
When software becomes a not-for-profit enterprise, with everything open sourced and mandatory services/ad-based for revenue generation....you'll have few people to complain to but yourself.
Especially when it comes to software there should be no reason to have to pay for crap software. Case in point, I needed a app for making lists. I paid for two apps that turned out to be garbage and that I will never use before I found the one I that was right for me. I felt gipped though because I'd wasted my money on two apps I'll never use again and what is worse all developers were rewarded equally. If everyone could preview the apps before they buy I'm sure it would improve the general quality of apps out there.
All developers are NOT rewarded equally...the good ones, the ones who write in-demand software offered at in-demand prices, stick around. The sucky ones who write a crap app and disappear do so because they don't make enough money writing sucky software. Capitalism at its finest.
And given the broad range of opinions you can find in the form of software reviews, perusing forums, etc....I see very little need to blame anyone but yourself for buying something without doing some research first. I've made some poor purchasing decisions myself in my life, but I don't blame the companies who made the products I decided later I didn't like. I blame myself for making a bad decision when I could have avoided it with a little more research. I think far too many software consumers find it easier to pirate and justify than to do a little research in advance of their purchase. Of course, this becomes a reinforcing-feedback loop because when you never pay for something, you no longer see any need to make an informed decision. You download all you want, try them at your leisure, and then pay for just the one you want....or not, because after all, you've already received the gratification without paying for it and so its just convenient to forget to pay for it. And by forget I don't mean "forget" I mean truly forget....the purchasing decision never came into your frame of reference. It was all about getting gratification for your perceived needs and there was never a concept of "what if I make the wrong decision?" Wait until you decide to choose a SPOUSE for gods sake....no wonder our divorce rate is so high, huh?
Personally, I'd love it if all apps for the iDevices went the direction of most of the full-sized apps out there, with free 10-day limited (or unlimited) trials. I agree that would address a lot of casual piracy issues and I think its in the best interest of the software industry. Unfortunately, this has only led to more cracking as the keys to 'unlock' full functionality are so easily obtained. Or the company resorts to extremely draconian practices to force an unlock situation...Garmin map updates come to mind. My god was that ever painful when they first launched.
