Forward a mile, back two steps, and forward one step.
Perhaps I should explain:
- Stardock Central has been around before. Back then, I firmly believe it was way, way ahead of its time. The ability to buy and download software is IMO the way of the future, and how we will be buying most of our software going forward. Impulse pushed things even further and went along the route I believe was going to be the logical conclusion of this type of product: A full online store for games and apps. This I think is the mile forward.
- Then, something happened. Games exploded. Impulse's biggest competitor was Steam, and games practically took over Impulse. Furthermore, GameStop took over Impulse, which basically killed any hopes of Impulse ever catering to regular apps. This I think are the two steps back. Especially as Microsoft and Apple loom on the horizon with their own app stores. Impulse can perhaps survive Steam - I don't know if it can survive Windows 8. Steam itself may have to start scrambling for market share if the store in Windows 8 becomes the new de facto way of getting applications and games.
- And now? SDC is back. One step forward again, as it's a central place to get Stardock apps.
The only question now is - can SDC make it another mile?
I guess I'm not totally up with the whole "Impulse is being maintained by GameStop now" thing. I've always had mixed feelings about it. And now I know why I do - because it kinda ruined my vision of why I thought Impulse existed. I thought it was going to be a big app store that any app developer could go to. But now - now it's not apps, it's just games. Which is kinda disappointing.
I suppose SDC is probably going to be Stardock only - I don't really see Stardock doing another e-commerce platform. Especially with Windows 8 coming. For the better, I suppose, since Stardock can focus on desktop customization and games again.
So - welcome back, SDC.
