The Internet and Software Distribution

It used to be that to distribute software meant spending a lot of money. There were costs associated with advertising, packaging and the act of physically distributing the software itself. In The Fourth Age of Software Distribution, Paul Kafasis lays out the history of software distribution and describes how it has become increasingly more efficient through the years. He points to the Internet being the third age of software distribution with it being eclipsed by the recent iPhone App Store model in which the Internet is the backbone of the method of distribution.

The software marketing and distribution playing field has been leveled due primarily to the Internet. It has allowed any person or company with little to no budget to actively and levelly compete with people or businesses many times their own size. Since its accessibility is near universal, there is little to hinder making products or information about the products available to the potential users. The cost to market and distribute the software has basically been lowered to the cost of a connection to the Internet.

The Internet also caused a big shift in the way software was presented. In contrast to the model of having a user install the product on their computers, there is more and more software that is becoming stored, maintained and accessible from a central location. This allowed the software company to retain greater control over their product giving them the ability to more rapidly fix bugs, deploy new features and provide the user with the benefit of accessing their data from many locations. It also allowed the companies to maintain a continuous revenue stream from the users rather than a one-time payment from the sale of packaged software. The term Software as a Service has been coined to describe this type of distribution.

It is clear that the Internet has played a vital role in the evolution of software distribution and will continue its role for a very long time. The fact is that any software developer now has easy access to millions of people worldwide whereas this luxury used to be available to only the largest of companies.