More Mac bundles for the masses

Deeply-discounted bundles have turned the difficult process of selling Mac shareware into a viral, timed event with plenty of pomp and circumstance. Two bundles have just crept up on the horizon, both of which offer an impressive variety of applications at a price calculated for an impulse buy. It's kind of like injecting the abilities of Billy Mays and Vince Offer into a package that's easier on the eyes and ears.

First, there's TheMacSale 2, brought to you by MacZOT, a vendor who is no stranger to these kinds of deals. But why buy all this software for a song when you can get a song with it? Up for grabs in this bundle is CrossOver Games, Picturesque, HoudahGeo, MacJournal, Morph Age Regular, Opacity Express, Searchlight, Vinoteka, Stone iMaginator and Stor. Yes, you also get "The Mac Sale - The Song!" with these ten applications, all for $50. Then there's TheMacBundles, which is brought to you by Steve Becker of MacEase software. If you order in the next seven days, you'll get BlogAssist, too. In this package, you can get iPhoto Library Manager, MYStuff, MyTunesRSS, PDFClerk Pro, Simon, Spyder, WebPrint Plus, Yum and Yummy FTP. Order in the next 21 days and they'll throw in A-Dock X and FolderGlance at no extra cost.

That's 12 apps in all for $50. Whoa there, Mr. Pitchman. Bundles have become a great opportunity for lesser-known Mac applications to get exposure. You may be asking yourself, "what's with all of these bundles?" That's a very good question. How many of the above apps did you know about before you read this? Given how prevalent these bundles have become, however, I'm worried that the community isn't finding new software through other channels.

Personally, I can only name five; I've tried three of them. Case in point, I've seen many folks abuzz on Twitter over a bundle that's being given away for free, but I don't see those people looking for more Mac software on MacUpdate and VersionTracker. Nonetheless, in giving out cheap licenses to use their software, there's often a little more incentive for users to try out the software than there would be in the usual timed-trial mode that much of Mac shareware uses. Instead, many of them are waiting for another bundle before they invest in more Mac shareware. Ideally, this translates into better word of mouth and free publicity for many months and years to come.