I appreciate Patrick's intent and mission to get engineers to value their wares more but I don't think his anecdote makes the most compelling argument.
For a counter-anecdote, I will say that in +10 years of a software career I have never, not even once, seen a "decision maker" say anything near "Doesn't matter. Get a copy for everyone, put it on the company card." ¥
¥ Most likely because that would be a stupid and reckless thing to say.
The presumption is that a piece of wireframe-sketching software that a consultant has brought on their laptop is not going to cost enough to be worth talking about.
I have seen it several times. And it's not stupid/reckless - it's incredibly helpful to have someone who sees the value in a tool willing to purchase it for their employees.
It happened to me recently. A large team found that Dropbox made things easier. The program manager told everyone to buy themselves the 50MB subscription and expense it.
For a counter-anecdote, I will say that in +10 years of a software career I have never, not even once, seen a "decision maker" say anything near "Doesn't matter. Get a copy for everyone, put it on the company card." ¥
¥ Most likely because that would be a stupid and reckless thing to say.