App Spotting

From Rands:

The buzz around TextMate started many months ago, but it’s when folks started to ask me to order it that I started to pay attention. There is no copy protection known to man that any bright engineer can’t circumvent, so when an engineer asks you to purchase the software they’re saying, “This is the shit. We should pay these guys for this fine piece of work.”

You bet I downloaded it.

The example is TextMate, but this quote nails it on the head. When people are willing to fork over cash for software that competes against a see of free apps, you know you’ve got something good. The rest of Rand’s post about Bright, Patient Design is good reading too. Recommended.