In case you haven't heard yet, slimKEYS is now free to use. Totally free. No catch, No ads, no malware, nothing.
Why would someone earning money from a product decide to make it suddenly free?
Because I never made any money with slimKEYS.
Now, you're probably thinking "slimCODE decided to make slimKEYS free so they can stop putting energy on it", right?
Is this the end of slimKEYS?
No way! For a simple reason: I'm the number one customer myself. I couldn't work on a computer without slimKEYS.
Then, why not leave it at 15$?
Because I still dream of seeing slimKEYS becoming a successful product, and I realize my definition of "successful" isn't based on the amount of money I can bring in with slimKEYS, but more with the number of users I can gather. The equation is obvious:
- I'll never make a fortune with slimKEYS, never.
- I want to continue to work on slimKEYS.
- I need motivation in order to work on a product.
So my last attempt in keeping motivation is to make it used by more and more people. And for that, I'll need help from the current very loyal users. Spread the word! Blog it, tweet it! slimKEYS is free, and there's no catch.
And if people still think it deserves money, it's always possible to make donations.
And besides, if I can't make money with it, why not drive traffic at least?
But I paid for slimKEYS! That's not fair!
I agree, it's not fair for those who paid. If you really feel betrayed, you can ask a refund. If you really think that back then, slimKEYS was worth something, but now it doesn't, even some small donation, I'll gladly refund.
Just send me an email with your registration information.
Why not make it open source?
The answer should now be obvious: I still want full control and ownership of the hard work I've put into slimKEYS. Else, motivation would drain away a little more. Starting an open source project is a logical pattern. Turning a 4+ years old project into open source is resignation.
Maybe one day. Once the user base is strong enough? Maybe.
How do you pay your bills, then?
I hope this does not surprise you, but slimKEYS is not my only professional activity. I do contracts for custom development, and I also work on other product ideas (too many, must focus!). I'm leaning toward mobile development. For example, I have slimPASSWORD for Windows Mobile coming soon, for opening your slimLAUNCH.Passwords file on your phone. I also have two other Windows Mobile apps in the oven.
As for DutchTab for Windows Mobile, still at 5$, it will also become free in a few weeks, with a small update. I don't think my two customers will mind.