My worry is if people will be able to make that leap, from perceiving something as COST (=must or even convenience) to have a comparable response as a DONATION. In the first case they have this feeling they now actually own/bought something, that they are entitled to help, support, and that they are really a client, while in the second case, it's much more a moral incentive augmented by the community spirit, which might or might not work out as a surogate replacement for the first case. Plus you have extra factors as donator fatigue (you'll likely donate to the first apps you see and like, the 100th app you install has much lower chances compared to what it would have if it had been #1). I can't say whether it's unreal as it has never even been attempted at that scale (a little market study homework for Nokia ). If it works yay \o/, but but I would not expect it to be a game-changer.

Understood