Hello,
First of all, let me compliment the author on this article. It found it very interesting for different reasons. I am a developer of both small and big software solutions. The smaller ones could be good candidates for freeware of donationware.
Because I have a lot of projects, I made a "ToDo" program for myself. When published on a single page for beta testing, the program got attention from a lifehacking site and that article generated so many requests I decided to make a product out of it:
Much2DoAlthough 200+ people downloaded the software, none of them bothered to register for 25 EUR. Although I knew it before I read the article, your article proved it was not a good idea to state on my website and in my download emails that I intended to continue development only when some of them registered. Major error!
Don't feel sorryt for me, this project was a very small project and since I made it for personal use, I did not loose time or sleep over it. But the article made some strong points and I will re-read it again I am sure. Also, the article might help me when I need to make decisions on how to market my commercial software. Some of the same issues apply, like the fact that people do not like to register before the use the software.
But my first post is simply to compliment you on the article (I'll start a new post in a minute for the second part of my message)