Yeah, I'm not claiming nobody pays for software. Clearly many do. Just that I understand people's default aversion - I encounter far more software than food that I would label "shit", despite eating far more food in total.

And software often requires you to enter payment info into who know what system (plus your phone number (plus make an account (plus opt into receiving spam from them until the universe dies))), if you're not using google play / the iOS app store. In a restaurant you put your card into the thing and you're done.

Also this:

>It just serves a purpose and fills you and you move on.

Is something many pieces of software I've used cannot even dream of achieving. They solely wasted my time.

It's why I think it's a shame that demos are a dying breed.

In my experience, a free and ad-free app is often better, because it was written by someone who doesn't have profit as a motive (often just a hobby). There are tons of great paid apps too, but it's hard to know which paid app is actually good and which is a slipshod app designed to profit from the rare user who will buy an app without much thought.

    > Plenty of university students around me who will order a $8 boba tea

Is this "University of Monaco" (I jest) or UCLA or USC or Harvard or what? What kind of normie uni student is buying 8 USD bubble teas? Ridiculous.

It’s also easier to pay for something that I feel I’m entirely getting as a treat for me. Sure, that snack is $5, but it’s all a “treat”. Software often doesn’t feel like a treat to own, outside of games that is, having to pay for apps you’d just use in every day life feels emotionally more like an annoying tax you have to pay to just continue existing, just like an electricity bill or something. I honestly think that’s the main psychological difference that people aren’t considering or even mentioning.

this probably goes back to the Steam counterexample - Game apps do elicit that craving.