I just got myself 10 great apps worth USD356.74 for a mere USD49, thanks to MacHeist. Phil Ryu’s innovative Mac shareware marketing campaign has also raised more than USD100,000 in sales of their MacHeist bundle.

Now that the USD100,000 target has been reached, Newsfire and Textmate have been unlocked. Purchasers of the bundle will now receive the 2 abovementioned apps along with Delicious Library, FotoMagico, ShapeShifter, DEVONthink Personal, Disco, RapidWeaver, iClip 4, and one Pangea game of your choice.

25% of their total sales will also go to your choice of 8 charities. It’s a fantastic deal and if you can afford it I highly encourage you to buy the bundle.

My 2 cents: The MacHeist Bundle has generated some controversy with Mac developers who feel that giving away their apps for such a big discount is more detrimental than whatever publicity it gains them. I for one feel that promotions like MacHeist and MacZot are great because it’s got me actually paying for software. It’s lowered the barrier to own these great software to such a low level that I really don’t mind spending the money on it. And in the process I’ve grown to love some of the apps and have decided I’ll pay the full upgrade price when new versions of the apps are released. Plus hey, a quarter of what I’m paying goes to charity. Merry Christmas!