Remathilis
Legend
I realize the plural of anecdote isn't data, but I know a few people who didn't buy a PHB for 3.5 or PF because "its free online". With 5e, they have the basic game and a few additional classes and races in the srd, but not the full PHB.That's fiction, apparently. When they were hashing out the 4E licensing plans, Scott Rouse spoke to a number of publishers by phone including myself and I asked point blank if my SRD 3.5 Revised was problematic or helping cause the shift away from OGL support for D&D and I was told that it was not.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/17705/Aid-SRD-35-Revised-Full-Bundle?it=1