Re:Stop Using The Cup of Coffee vs. $0.99 Cent App Analogy
by yaakov34 on Thursday August 16, 2012 @07:43PM
(#4394250)
I think that the reluctance to pay for anything online is what explains prices like $0.99 - the developers are trying to pitch their apps as "almost free" or "just about free" - sneaking in under that impedance. The whole point of that price is to send a signal that this doesn't cost real money. So this price point is not accidental or unexpected. How developers can get out of this is a different question...
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Re:Stop Using The Cup of Coffee vs. $0.99 Cent App Analogy
by tptacek on Thursday August 16, 2012 @08:32PM
(#4394440)
There are people here with much better scientific data to argue from, but my sense is that this is exactly the wrong strategy: the biggest hump is from "free" to "pay", and most points on the spectrum from 0.01 to "whatever a DVD movie costs" are similarly hard to sell at, all else being equal (market sabotage by people selling apps at 99 cents notwithstanding; don't build apps that will compete at 99 cents).
Re:Stop Using The Cup of Coffee vs. $0.99 Cent App Analogy
by franzus on Friday August 17, 2012 @04:18AM
(#4395509)
> market sabotage by people selling apps at 99 cents
The real sabotage comes from Apple who are encouraging 99c ents applications. It fits well in their strategy to commoditize software so their hardware becomes more appealing.
The problem is that this strategy works: For every "homeless" developer who gives up there are waiting 10 in line to flood the market with their 99 cent apps.