Definition Please

[Pat]

I've heard this term before, and I'm not clear on what is meant. Could someone provide a good definition? Thanks!

[TheTominator]

What term do you need defined?

It appears that you forgot to add that to your post.

[Pat]

I knew perfectly well what I meant! Oops!

The term is 'shrink wrapped.'

[TheTominator]

Historically "Shrink wrapped" software refers to a product that is sold commercially to an end user in a box completely sealed in a transparent plastic wrap. (The thin plastic was put around the box and heat applied to make the plastic shrink to seal and tightly fit.) Everything the user needed to use the software was in the box: media (floppies or CD-ROM), instructions, and license code.

There is a related term "shrink wrap license" that meant that if you broke the seal on the box you are bound by the End User License Agreement inside the box.

The "shrink wrap" term for software has evolved now to just mean software that is sold commercially to the end user in a complete fashion ready to install and use. It no longer has to be in a box or covered with a plastic wrap. It is common to distribute this software on the Internet in a downloadable fashion.

The "shrink wrap solution" label is primarily to distinguish its commercialization model from products that are custom designed for each user. Shrink wrap solutions are one-size-fits-all where all of your customers are using the same product.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Guest

[Pat]

Thanks.

I asked because I wondered if the term meant there was anything 'special' about including a solution (that wasn't runtime) with the Filemaker software needed to run it that made the whole package look like 'mysolution' instead of 'Filemaker' plus a copy of 'mysolution.fp7'.

[TheTominator]

I asked because I wondered if the term meant there was anything 'special' about including a solution (that wasn't runtime) with the Filemaker software needed to run it that made the whole package look like 'mysolution' instead of 'Filemaker' plus a copy of 'mysolution.fp7'.

I expect that the term means slightly different things to different people. Some people may think that you have to include a FileMaker license or a FileMaker runtime along with your database file to make it shrink wrap software, but I don't hold that opinion. I might be in the minority on that. I think that the FileMaker engine is simply an item on the product's list of requirements just as purchasing a Mac or Windows computer with an OS is.

In the FileMaker community there may be the connotation that developers are bundling FileMaker or a runtime with their shrink wrap solutions so I wouldn't be surprised if people assumed that is what you are doing when distributing shrink wrapped FileMaker solutions.

I often assume the developer has packaged it up with a runtime application or made one available since there is usually no reason not to. The only instance I can think of where making available a runtime would be pointless is if the database would never be used in a single-user mode.