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Stereotypes about shareware vs. retail software

• Even the best shareware is poorly written
  • It comes from one guy who [still] lives in his parents' basement
    • He goes to high school or college during the day
    • He earns most of his money flipping burgers
    • He writes viruses at night as a malicious hobby
  • He owns an "old" computer by today's standards because he can't afford to buy the latest technology
  • He hawks his software as shareware because retail companies won't waste their money trying to market an inferior product
• Even the worst retail software is professionally written
  • A whole team of professionals work on any given retail product
    • The team members with Ph.D.s in computer science actually conceptualize & design the software
    • The "hot" team members do the actual programming and they're typically managed by someone with a master's degree in computer science
    • The quality-assurance team members hold "management information systems" degrees and they carefully test the software before it ever reaches store shelves
    • The head of marketing holds a computer science degree and can speak as an authority about the software if a reporter calls
  • These professionals work hard for their salary and it reflects in the professional box you see on store shelves
    • The men wear traditional business suits and roll up their sleeves then they get to the office
      • They worry about receding hairlines and college-aged daughters who only seem to show an interest in boys who write shareware
    • The women wear conservative makeup with fashionable (but not flashy) business outfits
      • They wear tennis shoes on the way to work and grab a pair of pumps from the bottom desk drawer when they get to the office
  • They all work in a professional office building located in a major city
    • Each desk bristles with the latest hardware & software
    • Everybody at the company understands the threat of viruses and they diligently check their computers to make sure customers never receive an infected disk