One neat thing about being on the Macintosh was the MacHeist Giving Tree. MacHeist is an annual promotion that bundles up a bunch of good Mac apps into one low price. There’s some controversy as to whether or not the bundle is a good thing or a bad thing for app vendors, but it’s definitely a win for consumers, modulo the potential for driving independent Mac developers out of business. The Giving Tree was an inducement for new registrations with the promise of free applications, some to be made available on Christmas.
I’m a little wary of promotions like this. Usually there’s too much chaff relative to the wheat. Not so in this case. I automatically received Synergy and Enigmo. Synergy is a lightweight, but really professional, iTunes controller. I found Synergy immediately useful. Enigmo is a 3D puzzle game. Not my style so I probably won’t play it much though.
On Christmas, MacHeist revealed it’s other gift applications, Headline, iConquer, SantaSnaps, and 1Password. I’ve been using a promotional version of 1Password and was planning on purchasing a license, so the gift license was a big win. I will definitely purchase an upgrade when the next version comes out. Consider that a successful customer acquisition. On first blush, iConquer is essentially the old board game Risk. Not real compelling from where I sit. SantaSnaps dresses up photos with festive decorations but won’t be useful until next year. Headline is a compact RSS reader. I’m a NetNewsWire and Google Reader junkie, so I doubt I’ll find it handy.
Two out of six clear hits, two middling games, and two clear apps destined for the attic. Don’t know how they evaluate these things, but I’d call it a win. Plus, they can promote the heck out of MacHeist to me and I will seriously consider a purchase.
Not to mention they gave away some iPhone apps, but I don’t have an iPhone.