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 term is also used to refer to software that is ported from one computer platform or storage medium to another with little thought given to adapting it for use on the destination platform or medium, resulting in poor quality.
The metaphor implies that the creators showed little care for the original software, as if the new compilation or version had been indiscriminately created/ported with a shovel, without any care shown for the condition of the software on the newly created product. The term "shovelware" is coined with semantic analogy to phrases like shareware and freeware, which describe methods of software distribution. Crapplet is a similar term.
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 or the conversion of Console games to PC games resulting in unprecedented poor quality unfit for the platform that it is ported to.
"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 large capacity of CD-ROMs – equivalent 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 wide availability of high speed networking and software downloading and the limited capacity of removable media in modern computers compared to the growing massive file sizes of newer software packages. It continues in some cases with bundled or pre-installed software, where many extra programs of dubious quality and usefulness are included with a piece of hardware.
Conversions
Shovelware can also refer to software that was merely pushed out for the sake of having said software exist. This can refer to ports of games that otherwise would have never existed outside a sponsorship or applications that are only justified through means of emulating a competitor. The general consensus is that the quality of said software is poor.
In Console Gaming
While the term 'shovelware' is often used by PC and on-line gamers, the expression is much less common in the console gaming community. While all consoles are prone to shovelware titles and accessories, the effects of shovelware on the console gaming industry have significantly affected 5 consoles: The Atari 2600, the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo’s Game Boy Color and Wii consoles and Apple’s iPhone.
The effects of shovelware on the industry were first and most poignantly felt during the 1983 video game market collapse. The collapse was caused by the combined effects of the market dominance of the Atari 2600 and the lack of quality control imposed on the releases of its software. As a consequence of these factors, the market became saturated with perceived ‘below par’ games cashing in on the video game boom, and consumers between 1982 and 1983 turned their backs on the industry. Many software and hardware producers suffered, and it was not until the release of Nintendo’s NES in 1985 that the market began to recover. The term ‘Arty’ (shortened from Atari) became a term over the next decade for poor games.
As arcade names Nintendo and Sega moved into the mass console market, they attempted to limit the effect of shovelware through licensing, proprietary cards and anti-piracy policies, resulting in a return of consumer confidence.
A decade after the initial market collapse, shovelware again became an issue for the Sony PlayStation. The use of much cheaper CDs as opposed to the more costly game cartridges, combined with more relaxed licencing designed to attract developers to the new platform lead to significantly more shovelware than experienced on rival platforms. While shovelware did not saturate the market or affect the profitability of the platform[citation needed], the shovelware did adversely affect consumers trust in unknown titles, affecting smaller games developers.
Nintendo, while an early leader in measures against poor software titles, has received a notable amount of shovelware on their Game Boy Color, Wii, and Nintendo DS consoles.
As console gaming has spread into the mobile market, the rise of low cost digital storage and the comparative limitations of mobile devices has once again caused a rise in shovelware titles, particularly on Apple’s iPhone, with both games and apps markets becoming saturated through lack of quality control on Apples online store.[citation needed]
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