Lack Of A Viable Business Model Is Stifling Software Innovation (TechWeb)

Lack Of A Viable Business Model Is Stifling Software Innovation (TechWeb)

Our organization currently pays $15,000/yr in maintenance and upgrade fees for a certain desktop software program which very obviously has never been through any usability testing. The company behind this software has been in the business for over twenty years. There are a number of other closed source programs we use which are also vexing and unusable, this is just the most egregious example.

Good usability is orthagonal to whether the program in question is closed or open source. Usability comes from the skills and interests of the people involved, not from the business model.