At home, I have two computers - one desktop and one laptop. Both have Internet connectivity although there is a Linksys router/firewall in between which keeps away most of the nastiness.

 

But, being the good boy that I am, I have anti-virus software installed on both machines. My laptop came with a 60-day trial of Norton Anti-Virus. I purchased McAfee VirusScan for my desktop two years ago.

 

The latest trend in virus software is "subscriptions". So, you pay one price for the software, and then have to pay the same price every single year to keep the latest virus signatures up-to-date. I don't disagree with the practice - it is a valuable service keeping virus signatures up-to-date and the companies deserve to get paid for it.

 

However, that doesn't mean I won't try to swing the best deal I can. Because nobody wants to be the person who pays the most for something, when others pay a lot less.

 

So my 60-day Norton trial is over, and Norton is asking for $40 for a one-year subscription to updates. Holy smokes. $20 is a fairer price, so I set out to see if I could find somewhere to purchase it for less.

 

It didn't take long. I was at Best Buy tonight. And what did I see? McAfee VirusScan 2004 selling for $60. But get this, there was a $30 mail-in rebate, bringing the price down to a reasonable $30. But then wait, there is an upgrade offer for previous Norton or McAfee customers - an additional $45 mail-in rebate. So in essence, McAfee will PAY ME $15 for buying this software: $60 - $30 - $45...

 

So instead of paying $40 a year, I actually make money for buying a new CD of the same software I already own. That's utterly incredible.  How do they make any money?

 

Update: There is one piece of “fine print” that I've discovered. The total rebate received cannot exceed the purchase price of the software. Well, I don't know if they will be enforce that, but free software is almost as good as software that pays me $15. We'll see.