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3 hours ago
2
I grew up in India during the '90s. One man changed how we consumed music: Gulshan Kumar of T-Series. While others sold Hindi film cassettes for ₹60–70, he sold them for ₹25. It killed piracy, built a fan base, and made his company a giant.
Why? Affordability beats enforcement.
Fast forward to 2024. I’m a tutor in Kerala with 28 years of experience. I teach income tax and accountancy. I earn ₹250/hour (~$3). Let's talk numbers:
Adobe Acrobat Pro? Over ₹1,500/month.
Zoom Pro (desktop)? ₹1,450/month.
A 2004 Amitabh Bachchan DVD still costs ₹400.
ChatGPT Plus? ₹2,000/month. That’s 8 hours of teaching for me.
How are educators in rural India or small towns supposed to survive?
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So yes, I pirated software:
Icecream PDF Editor Pro — for 5 years, to teach during COVID.
Zoom — free version for 4 years.
Adobe? Couldn’t touch it.
Only recently, I realized Zoom Pro on Android is ₹439/month — with nearly all desktop features. I immediately paid. Because I could.
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You want to reduce piracy? Try pricing software like:
Canva, which exploded in India because it's affordable.
Swayam, where IIT professors give free courses to lakhs of students.
Kinemaster and Notion, which quietly offer discounted Android Pro versions.
Microsoft? Still charging enterprise rates for solo users in small towns. ChatGPT? ₹2,000/month is normal in SF. It's heavy in India.
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When tools are unaffordable, people don’t turn evil. They turn resourceful.
Price your software like you're trying to build users, not just revenue. If T-Series figured it out in 1995, what’s your excuse in 2025?
