I should probably be insulted.
Yes, I buy hundreds of dollars PER YEAR of software both new and upgraded. And you (meaning anyone reading this) should too.
A recent study showed that Mac users were MUCH (as in dramatically) more honest than PC users, and paid for their software x multiples more often than PC users.
This is not just a statistic that makes us look good, it's a statistic we NEED to uphold.
First of all, no matter how cool WE all think the Mac is, the truth of the matter is that it's a TINY minority in the computer biz, so it is MUCH MUCH harder for a developer to make a living (never mind a profit!) selling Mac-only software than it is for a Windows company to sell crapware. Never mind the fact that Mac users are infamously picky and demand BETTER software than Windows, the bottom line is that there just aren't that many of us around compared to the Windows crowd. Sure Apple's selling better than it has since the early 80s, but we're still (at best) approaching 8% marketshare. So that's 90% of the computer dollars being spent on Windows/PC related stuff. If you were a dev, how could you justify to your CEO the time and effort to develop high-quality Mac software with numbers like that?
I just can't stress this enough: Apple can make all the cool hardware it wants to, but without TONS of third-party developers, the platform WILL eventually die out. It looks reasonably secure for the short-term, but Windows WILL eventually improve (or be replaced with something better), and Apple can't keep hardware-innovating forever.
Secondly, all you fanboys out there that pray daily for the death of Microsoft, PIRACY IS THE KEY. In the old days, MS turned a blind eye to a lot of piracy because it forced people to adopt the platform and locked-in users. Now that's no longer true, and they're ALL ABOUT the DRM and the software activation and the dongles and anything else they can think of to spy more on you and what you're doing, and keep you from pirating their stuff. NOW it's hurting them.
If you enjoy this idea and want to see it spread to the Mac platform even more than it already has, PLEASE DO KEEP PIRATING MAC SOFTWARE. I guarantee it will happen.
Third, for a platform to reach critical mass, you need excited developers. Apple has been keeping their devs reasonably happy, but what makes them happiest is when they make money. Piracy does not provide for that, and 95% of Mac developers truly and honestly deserve to be paid for the work they do and the service they provide. If you're any kind of honest and ethical person, you pay for the software you use.
So, to summarise and expand, here are the reasons you should pay for Mac software:
1. Assures the future of expanded software choices and improved quality.
2. Keeps developers interested in staying with the platform through the "tough times" if they know they can count on customer loyalty.
3. Allows Mac users a factual foundation for smug air of superiority that PC users hate so much. The study referenced above makes it pretty plain: honest Mac users ARE superior to PC users.
4. Assures the future of Apple.
5. Piracy saves money UP FRONT, but costs WAY more in the long haul. I'm not hurting ONE BIT for having spent "all that money" on shareware/commercial apps over the years: on the contrary, I've got the tools and support I need to MAKE money and do whatever I need to do (whether it be for profit or not) more efficiently and enjoyably.
6. Giving money directly to devs (shareware is a good example) is actually a lot of fun, because you establish a relationship with them and build community.
7. Prices are crazy cheap just now, and Mac software is generally a very good value to start with. See below.
Jjust at the moment it's rather ridiculous to contemplating Mac piracy -- in addition to the good reasons above, there's a TON of Mac software (mostly shareware, but damn good shareware!) on sale at CRAZY prices just now:
MacUpdate Promo - Big discounts on Mac software every day.
MacSanta: Great Deals On Hundreds Of Mac Products
Just two examples. More is out there.