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Endgame: Winzip Bought Out By VC Firm
Looks like word today is that Winzip, the popular file compression program, has been bought out by a VC firm. The firm promises to "more aggressively" pester users about paying for the program. Talk about pouring good money after bad.
First let me note, I'm a Winzip customer. Great product. I use it every now and then. There was a time when I used it extensively, especially its cousin, PKZip.
But times move on. Anymore, reading zip files is just part of my operating system. The product has become commoditized. Oh, I'm sure that there are more features that can be packed into the product somewhere, but compression software isn't like laundry detergent -- people aren't going to buy it all over again simply because the box says "new and improved". The concept of file compression has matured in the public mind. The benefits of the product are part of the "cost of admission" when buying a computer. With bandwidth rising, memory and hard drive space increasing, and plenty of freeware options, investing in a file compression system is a fool's game. Are there licensing opportunities? I don't know. And perhaps that is the strategy. But, in my opinion, selling to the general public ain't going to work as a business model.
Maybe they plan to expand the functionality of WinZip beyond computer files. Is it possible they've figured out a way to make it compress physical matter? I'll bet there's a lot of extra space between atoms that could be eliminated to achieve this.
Too much junk in your closets? Just zip up your belongings and archive them in the attic! No parking spaces left at the mall? Squeeze your car into a handy take-along size! I think the VC firm has big plans for this little utility.
But that still doesn't explain why the Viet Cong are dabbling in the software business. :-)