Shovelware

Shovelware is a derogatory computer jargon term that refers to software noted more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness. The metaphor implies that the creators chose the content material indiscriminately, as if with a shovel, rather than hand-picking quality works.

The term "shovelware" is coined with semantic analogy to phrases like shareware and freeware, which describe methods of software distribution.

"Shovelware" CD-ROMs

Although poor-quality collections existed at least as far back as the BBS era, the term "shovelware" became commonly used in the early 1990s to describe early CD-ROMs such as collections of shareware or public domain software. The relatively large capacity of CD-ROMs - equivalent at to around 450-700 floppy disks, the former distribution method of choice - encouraged producers to fill them by including as much existing content as possible, often without regard to the quality of the material. Software reviewers, displeased with huge collections of inconsistent quality, dubbed this practice "shovelware".

The practice of shovelware has largely decreased due to the relatively limited capacity of removable media in modern computers, compared to the growing massive file sizes of newer software packages.

Shovelware in the Amiga community

CD-ROM based games had little success in the Amiga market, since Commodore's CD-based hardware sold poorly and most Amiga computers couldn't make practical use of the extra space for games due to other hardware constraints. However, a thriving PD community led some PD resellers to release compilation CDs, such as Hottest 4 and 17-Bit's The Fifth Dimension, collecting together numerous individual floppy disks on single CDs.

While these CDs represented good value for the money spent, providing as many as perhaps five hundred PD disks on one CD, many such CDs were criticized as including large amounts of material without taking the time to check individual disks for quality before inclusion; rather, the inclusiveness of the material was often a selling point. In some cases, the CDs would be supplied with only a limited user interface, or sometimes none at all.

However, not all compilation CDs were necessarily considered "shovelware". CU Amiga's cover CDs were regularly quite full, but the editors were considered to be selective in their choices for inclusion. The Aminet archive CDs, while non-selective in their inclusion, were generally not referred to as shovelware, perhaps since they were sufficiently well-categorized and frequently included quality material. The Fred Fish archive CD was likewise generally not considered shovelware, since it merely archived an existing series of disks which themselves contained hand-picked material.

Pre-installed "shovelware"

"Shovelware" can also refer to poor quality software included with the purchase of a new computer by the computer's manufacturer, allowing the manufacturer to claim that the system was "complete" and "ready to use" with minimal additional cost. It is difficult to quantify how widespread the practice is or was, mainly because determining the worth of a software package is highly subjective, but usage of the word "shovelware" in this context was at its peak in the late 1990s. Often, such "bundled" software would be difficult or impossible to remove, and/or lack separate installation media, making repair of a damaged installation impossible without reinstalling the entire operating system.

Pre-installed "shovelware" is often used as a promotional device, wherein the software distributors offset some of the cost of the PC, thereby bringing the retail price down. This "shovelware" may include pre-installed programs for ISP service subscriptions such as AOL, and trialware of various applications.

Modern usage

The term "shovelware" has more recently been used in a more general sense by video game reviewers to indicate any product of disappointingly low quality due to a lack of time and effort by the developers. For example, Adam Sessler of X-Play described the PlayStation 3 launch game Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire as "shovelware of the highest order", which took little advantage of the new system's capabilities and was rushed out in order for it to be a launch title [1].

Related to shovelware is bloatware, a negative term describing a program which has included too many features at the cost of usability, straightforwardness and use of system resources.

Shovelware also is the term given to media content (often from a newspaper, TV or radio station) that is hastily thrown onto a corresponding website with little regard to the layout or design.

Craplets

New computers often come bundled with software which the manufacturer was paid to include but is of dubious value to the purchaser. Craplet, a portmanteau of crap and applet, is a derogatory term used to refer these unwanted, preinstalled software and advertisements. In January 2007, an unnamed executive spokesman for Microsoft expressed concern that the Windows Vista launch might be damaged by poorly designed, uncertified third-party applications installed by vendors — "We call them craplets." He stated that the antitrust case against Microsoft prevented the company from stopping the preinstallation of these programs by OEMs. Walter Mossberg, technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, condemned "craplets" in two columns published in April 2007, and suggested several possible strategies for removing them. According to Ars Technica, most craplets are installed by OEMs who receive payment from the authors of the software. At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Dell defended this practice, stating that it keeps costs down, and implying that systems might cost significantly more to the end user if craplets were not preinstalled.

Media format conversion

Shovelware is often used to refer to conversions from one media format to another (also known as "porting"), in the manner floppy disc collections were aggregated onto CD-ROMs. Today there is potential for similar shovelware in converting PC websites into mobile websites with little thought to optimizing for the new platform.

Some new platforms in fact actively encourage shovelware, as a way to "cross the chasm" until optimized new content is created. For example, Apple emphasized how existing PC sites could be viewed on its newly released iPhone. Despite Apple's current third-party developer blocks, over time one can expect new original iPhone content.

Perhaps the radio shows that were recorded with static actors to become the first TV shows, could be regarded as early analogies to shovelware.

External links

• cd.textfiles.com
• Alistar B. Fraser, on Academic Shovelware