OF Pricing: The great debate of '08
 

I've been using omnifocus for the past 14 days on the limited trial, and have to say that I think it's a great program. It's very efficient, and presents a powerful tool for the organization of ideas and priorities.

However, the $80 price-tag is something that I cannot afford and do not understand. No matter which way I turn this program it still feels empty at it's heart. Why are you folks at Omnifocus charging so much for the implementation of a system that isn't original (unless, of course you did invent GTD)? Also, my other gripe is that at it's heart the program is fairly simple: a relational database of lists. On the front end, I don't see a single groundbreaking feature that isn't inherent of OS X's latest interface upgrades.

So, why is it so expensive? Are you genuinely interested in helping people, or are you simply waiting for folks to lock their important data into your program so that at the end of the trial they are forced to purchase a license?

You say it's a great prog, but not affordable. Then it isn't the app for you.
I got in via early adopter and upgrade so it was right for me. If you like the idea but not the price there are loads out there to try
Taskpaper
iGTD
Think

and all the online versions

As for me, OF is the right app - and the price at the time was perfect

Even though I got it for the discount, I agree it shouldn't be above the $50 mark.

$49.95 would have been good, $80 is too much.

BZ

[QUOTE=neb;32632]However, the $80 price-tag is something that I cannot afford and do not understand. No matter which way I turn this program it still feels empty at it's heart. Why are you folks at Omnifocus charging so much for the implementation of a system that isn't original (unless, of course you did invent GTD)? Also, my other gripe is that at it's heart the program is fairly simple: a relational database of lists. On the front end, I don't see a single groundbreaking feature that isn't inherent of OS X's latest interface upgrades.[/QUOTE]

It seems reasonably-priced to me, especially if you were able to take advantage of the various discounts. And judging from the early sales reports from Omni, it sounds like the market agrees.

Quality software and support is difficult and costs money. And, at least in my mind, that's one of OmniFocus' biggest selling points. Does any other company producing a GTD app for the Mac have the reputation for quality that Omni has?

I think there's innovation in OmniFocus too. But innovation is rarely conceived in a vacuum. It's built upon the advancements of others. So maybe there's nothing earth-shattering in OmniFocus, but it takes a few steps forward at least.

Of course, if you don't agree, the simple solution is to simply vote with your wallet. Keep your money and instead use the features "inherent of OS X's latest interface upgrades".

[QUOTE=neb;32632]So, why is it so expensive? Are you genuinely interested in helping people, or are you simply waiting for folks to lock their important data into your program so that at the end of the trial they are forced to purchase a license?[/QUOTE]

Let's not kid ourselves, Omni produces software for profit. They're in business to make money (although I suppose they'd like to help people along the way as well). But to ask them to devalue their product to "genuinely help people" is unfair, especially considering the costs involved and the condition of the market and competition.

[QUOTE=BwanaZulia;32637]
$49.95 would have been good, $80 is too much.
BZ[/QUOTE]

I agree with BwanaZulia, but maybe I should clarify my position better. I'm a designer myself, and I've been active in the software market for most of my life as a producer and consumer.

I'm not asking asking the Omni Group to devalue their product, I'm simply suggesting that it is inflated/overpriced. Even as the product is markedly targeted toward families, shouldn't that reflect a company with better values than "we are here to make money" cliche?

I've met plenty of developers who work for little or nothing and produce good software out of principle (OS X comes with a full suite of dev tools for free), so I'm really not sympathetic to your stance.

I see in your program a very well-made tool, that has the potential to better many lives (and by associated function, society). Shouldn't that in itself be the "value", to get this software into the right hands? Otherwise, shunting Omnifocus into a richer target market is simply stretching an already overinflated economy. You'll make money, but will it matter?

Yeah, I feel that around $40-45 is appropriate for the software as it stands now. For $80 I'd expect seamless integration with OmniPlan and other apps and work in a distributed manner (where multiple peeps are working on a OmniPlan project).

My 2 cents:

I got the early discount. If I hadn't I would have paused at paying $80. As wfiveash said, I would have expected fuller capabilities for that price point. That being said, the OmniGroup has poured a ton of resources and time in developing the product.

We in the osx community are fortunate to have lots of GTD choices out there.

What's ground breaking is that Omnifocus is the first GTD app I've stuck with. That's worth $80 despite whatever complaints I might have about it.

I think Omni gets away with the $80 price point because they have one of the best reputations in the Mac software market. They are extremely good at what they do and their price is a reflection of that commitment to quality.

I agree that 80.00 bucks for one program can seem unreasonable, and in all honesty I would have expected something around the 50.00 mark.

That said, I would have eventually paid the money. It doesn't matter if it has anything that's 'ground breaking' or not. I put my whole life into omnifocus. I use it every single day, multiple times during the day. For the amount of time I spend in omnifocus 80.00 bucks doesn't faze me.

Not to mention that I omnigroup has a long history. Some other gtd programs look enticing, but will they be around in 2 years? Who knows. The odds on omnigroup, and omnifocus, being around in the future is a chance I feel good taking.

There are other choices, free, or at least cheaper, and that's a good thing. Competition is good.

Lastly, it's all relative. You said you can't afford 80 dollars. But if it was 50 dollars someone else couldn't afford it. You can't do business that way.

Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc.?
 

As a designer, I feel the crunch of software prices every time Adobe releases a new version of Photoshop, etc. But Photoshop is something that I use everyday, it is an essential tool.

If Omnifocus has made itself invaluable to you during the trial period, then I don't think it is too much to pay $80. I pay much more Photoshop and I don't get the personal support that the Omni Group has offered.

OmniFocus, Fields of Corn, Pricing
 

First, I thank everyone for their comments and want to encourage our customers to continue to let us know how they feel about pricing. Normally I like to keep business issues "in house" but I think this warrants a public post and overall Omni likes to err on the side of open-communication. So, in the interest of transparency, I'll go over some of the factors that contribute to the pricing of OmniFocus.

Just like any form of manufacturing, we have production costs. These are part of the final product price as they are in any form of manufacturing, be it tractors or software (the Wisconsin farm boy in me reveals himself). There is a popular misconception that, once the initial development is "done", selling software is like printing money because "it's just bits". In fact, just the opposite is the case. Every unit we sell incurs a cost in the form of support and it's no small cost: we have some of the best live support of any independent Mac developer in the business and are committed to keeping it best-in-class. Support isn't just our live support team, however, it's also constant upgrades. Right now we have four developers working on just OmniFocus 1.0.1. This is part of what you get for the purchase price: a guarantee that we won't abandon development and that you can rely on constant improvement and innovation. It really is a lot like growing corn, actually. While the corn "grows itself" in some respects, in reality it needs a lot of care, tending and even after harvest there's a lot of work to be done (and, just like our release cycles, once one harvest is done the next cycle begins).

However, the most important thing that you get with the purchase of any Omni product is the creativity and technical skill of our team here. I joined Omni because they were some of the brightest and most technically skilled developers I've ever seen. There are so many great things in store for OmniFocus (and all our apps). When you buy an Omni app, you're getting our full commitment to ongoing development, new features, new add ons, etc.

Selling an application too cheaply may see higher short term sales volume (units) and may also make some people happier (only in the short term however) but we'd then either collapse under the increased support volume (and the responsiveness of our support teams would decrease) or we'd end up with not enough cash flow to pay engineers to develop the next point release. Those that were happy about saving a few dollar at purchase time would be very, very disappointed with the end result.

So there you have the basics. We have to charge enough to stay in business, provide support, develop fixes and the next release and allow us to develop new, cool apps at the same time. $50 for OmniFocus doesn't get us there. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

If you perceive the quality of engineering inside the application, if you know the value of live support, if you value the ongoing development, I think that you'll support us with your purchase. If you don't then either we need to do a better job of communicating our quality and commitment or it's just not what you're in the market for. Personally, I think it's the former issue most of the time. I firmly believe that most people want quality, support, etc. We'll continue to work on communicating the quality and benefits of purchasing Omni products effectively to our current and future customers.

I hope this longish post helps clarify the factors that contribute to our pricing. Again, I want to emphasize how seriously we take the pricing of the applications and user feedback on this issue. Please let us know how you'd like to see the value of the applications better communicated and I'll be taking notes :)

Thanks,
Ethan

I bought it at a discount. I would not have bought it at full price.

I bought OF at full price. I'm very happy that I did so, it's one of my best software purchases in recent memory. I did not perceive it as "expensive".

JP

I got it at the discount price (very happily) and I too would have balked at getting at the full price at that time. However, when I did buy it I was sitting on the fence as to whether or not I actually needed OmniFocus - I wasn't really sure how the app would fit into my life as I had only really been tinkering with it up 'til then (the discount offer is what caused me to jump in and buy it). Now I'm using the app extensively, I still wouldn't be delighted to pay full price as I think it is a bit steep, but I think it would just about be worth it... Probably £30/$60 would be the sweet spot for me.

The big question in my mind, is how much the update to version 2.0 will cost and what features are going to be added [I]before[/I] the 2.0 update. If we see things like .Mac synching and an iPhone app before version 2.0, and it is a reasonable upgrade price, I think the initial outlay will have been very worth it (at full price, that is - it was already something of a bargain at the discount price).

For myself, having received the book this is based around for christmas and finding the app being used multiple times each and every day, it seems a no brainer to spend the $80 on it.

After all, if it saves me half an hour a day, it's paid for it'self already. Whether it does that already or not, is up for debate, but I know as i go through the book more, and organise myself more, it definitely will.

So ask yourself, how much time will i need to save myself till it's paid off. 1 month? 3 months? Is that worth it to you? If not, plenty of other software packages out there to try. Hopefully at your price point.

I'm kind of surprised that some people deem OF to be too expensive at $80. While $80 might be a lot of money for some (although I can't really imagine that genuinely being the case, as Macs aren't exactly cheap either), I find it even more surprising that the same people say that OF would be OK at $50 or so.

I gather that these prices are gut estimates and not derived from counting features and putting a "price tag" on them. But what makes a tool "worth" its price at $50 that makes it "overpriced" at $80?

I bet each one of us on this forum has spent $30 on some crap we've used once and then never again - I know I have ;) So why not invest in some already very cool software with huge potential and great support and finally start getting your life in order? Would that be worth $80?

I hope I didn't offend anyone with this post. If I did, please accept my apologies.

Tom

P.S.: I got OF at a discount as a previous owner of OO Pro, but I would have paid $80 without batting an eye. And I also should mention that I own OmniGraffle and OmniWeb, too, and OmniPlan is on my shopping list. So I'm fairly biased ;)

To put the cost of OF into context, it might be useful to compare OF's cost to other similar products.

For Franklin-Covey methodology followers - -
[LIST][*]PlanPlus for Windows @ $80[*]PlanPlus for Outlook @ $100[*]PlanPlus Online (sorry . . . no easy to find price info)[/LIST]
Lifebalance is $80

Some other GTD applications for comparison - -

Nozbe (web-based GTD)[LIST][*]Free Version (1 custom context and 5 projects) [*]Basic Version (10 custom contexts and 30 projects) @ $47/2 years[*]Pro Version (30 custom contexts and 100 projects) @ $95/2 years [*]Super Version (100 custom contexts and 1000 projects) @ $143/2 years[/LIST]
David Allen is pushing an Outlook add-on for $70 (plus the cost of Office, Windows, and something to run a vm on your mac)

Midnight Inbox is $35

iGTD is free for now (my opinion: v1 was only half-baked, and they moved on to v2 which is alpha - guess you get what you pay for)

kinkless GTD is free for OmniOutliner Pro users

Things will be $49 (still in development)

So . . . . there are options for the cost sensitive.

It is hard to imagine that any professional is going to think twice about OF's price [B][U]if they are already using GTD.[/U][/B] If someone is new to GTD and especially if they have not committed to GTD, then even $35 is going to make most people think twice. This is the problem that all automated organizers face to some extent. The most significant cost is not the cost of the software; it is the cost (in terms of time) to learn the system it is based on.

In the end you always get what you pay for...

If I'm even remotely serious about applying the GTD methodology my first and foremost concern is not saving 20 or 30 dollars, but that the tool I use needs to be a "safe bet". You don't get that from - sorry - half-assed freeware and I'd have trouble sleeping if I trusted a web-based service with my life's and business' most crucial data.

In defense of OmniFocus's cost
 

Everyone has the right to decide how much they're willing to pay for software. However, unless someone is intimately familiar with the costs involved in producing a given application, they shouldn't accuse Omni of charging excessively. Excessively by what standard of measurement? What's convenient for one particular person to pay? That number may be important for guiding one person's spending habits, but isn't necessarily significant to the rest of the world. Everyone has a different utility value for their marginal $80.

Most people are ignorant of the costs of software development. They tend to see evident things (like application functionality) and overlook hidden things (like amortized research costs, which are high for an graphic-user-interface intensive application).

Furthermore, Omni is targeting a niche market (Mac users) with a niche product (specialized productivity tools) and doing a super job in design and quality control. (I've used release apps far less stable than the OmniFocus beta.) If they're trying to make as much money as possible, they're in the wrong business.

The most effective, and most civil, way to communicate one's feelings about a product is to a) decide to buy it or not, b) either say "Hey, great product!" or "Sorry, this was too expensive for me." There's no need to impugn a company's business practices, particularly when they're as focused on the end-user as Omni is.

/2-cents

Why oh why does this topic continue to come up? It's fine that Ethan made an attempt--a very good one, by the way--at explaining why the price of OF is what it is, but I don't think he had to. I love the fact that all of you price critics have absolutely no skin in the game when it comes to The Omni Group. You're not an investor or an employee who is dependent on the continued success of the company. You're a consumer who simply thinks it "costs too much," a highly subjective and disputed opinion, I should point out. There are thousands, dare I say, millions of people out there who would never pay the price that Apple charges for their Macs. I mean, after all, they're just computers, right? But you have obviously placed a certain value on owning one, and feel that it's worth the price. Indeed, it is that same subjectivity that applies to every single thing we own whether it's a car, a new TV, cellphone, or a stupid pair of pre-ripped jeans for $500. (For example, I don't see the value of paying $5.00 for a cup of coffee or $3.50 for a bottle of water. Okay, so what! Apparently, a lot of people do. Otherwise, Starbucks and Evian wouldn't have lasted as long as they have. But what am I supposed to do, argue with them about their pricing? No, I just don't buy their products.)

Oh, and then there are the good and wise price gurus out there. You know, those of you who have never seen Omni's financials, but are still able to divine a price that you feel in your infinite wisdom is the proper one for OF. Excuse me, but do you also read palms? I mean, because for you to intuit that kind of stuff so easily without any actual hard facts to trifle with is truly amazing.

So, to those of you who think that $80.00 is too much to pay for OF, I will say the same thing that I said in another similar post: You don't like the price, then don't buy the product. There now, wasn't that easy?

Pays itself
 

Omnifocus, as all other Omni software I use (Outliner, Plan and Graffle) paid itself approx. 2 days after I started using it. $80 is a bargain. The way this software supports me in my daily work is invaluable.

quick question: will upgraded versions of omnifocus cost? that is, version 2, 3 and so on? If so how much, roughly?

Upgrades are usually 50% of the price. The good thing about OG is they are a little slow in development, so it will be years before OF 2.0.

BZ

[QUOTE=BwanaZulia;32774]Upgrades are usually 50% of the price. The good thing about OG is they are a little slow in development, so it will be years before OF 2.0.

BZ[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Good to know it's a while off too

it hurt at the time but now it feels good
 

Pricing is always an interesting topic.

$80 was just over my limit - but after the 2 week trial the value of it (particularly as there's really nothing that matches it) caused me to go ahead and drop the cash. The more I use it the more valuable it's become to me. No regrets.

And, no resentment towards Omni on the pricing strategy. They produce things of quality and support them. That's worth a lot and it's not cheap to provide.

I'd have preferred to pay less.

--oh, also, folks who say "I got a discount, but I think the price is fine." only get half a vote

I took advantage of the early-adopter discount, and the OmniOutliner Pro discount too, but I certainly would have paid the full $80 if I had too. I'm not interested in cheap software; I want good software, the best I can reasonably get. Considering the amount of time I spend in front of my computer, I've learned that it's almost always better to choose the best application available, even if it costs more. It easily pays off in the log run.

As for those of us who paid the discounted price "only getting half a vote", what sense does that make? Us early adopters put our money down _before_ OmniFocus was even released! In some respects, that's a greater price and bigger vote of confidence than paying the full $80 weeks later. :-)

Too expensive. I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't been in the beta and been an Omni Outline owner. I've sunk too much into turkeys like Life Balance and into Palm Pilots and the like, and have gotten price sensitive. I almost regret that OmniFocus came out right as Leopard came out, since I would have liked to play with the new Mail.app/Calendar features a bit before using Yet Another Productivity Program.

The current hepcat indie software mantra is "If people aren't complaining about the price, it's too cheap," so don't expect it to fall. It would be too much of a lose of face among their peers.

One think Omni loses with the price is word of mouth. I use it, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's not because I don't like it. Rather, it's the combination of price plus learning curve for all but the more rabid GTD faithful (of which I am one).

[QUOTE=Frosty Crunch;32791]Too expensive. I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't been in the beta and been an Omni Outline owner. I've sunk too much into turkeys like Life Balance and into Palm Pilots and the like, and have gotten price sensitive. I almost regret that OmniFocus came out right as Leopard came out, since I would have liked to play with the new Mail.app/Calendar features a bit before using Yet Another Productivity Program.[/QUOTE]

That sounds like you're a personal productivity tool addict (takes one to know one ;). It seems like your real issue is getting down to [B]using[/B] them and stop just [B]buying[/B] them ;)


[QUOTE=Frosty Crunch;32791]The current hepcat indie software mantra is "If people aren't complaining about the price, it's too cheap," so don't expect it to fall. It would be too much of a lose of face among their peers.

One think Omni loses with the price is word of mouth. I use it, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's not because I don't like it. Rather, it's the combination of price plus learning curve for all but the more rabid GTD faithful (of which I am one).[/QUOTE]

Now why would any product, software or other, lose word-of-mouth potential because it's too expensive? As you can see in this post, those that shelled out the cash and bought the product are glowing advocates of the software and Omni Group. And a price that is just out of some people's comfort zone makes it even more interesting.

Time = Money

OF saves me a ton of time by helping me to do my work in a more focused fashion. I could build you a model of how much that saves me, but I am not going to - you get the point.

The tech support I have received, and the knowledge that Omni puts 100% into a product (like having 4 devs. on the next update) when they put it out is worth the extra $30 above other apps for me, no question...

OF is really worth 80 US
 

A software created with such a good conception is worth this price. OF is working without bugs and I hope Omni Group will keep on this kind of excellent work for many many years. We need this smaller developers besides the ADOBE and all the others trying to get a monopol.

I think it's worth the $80. But then I'm used to paying for Office, Photoshop etc.... As for what I paid, I was in fairly early in the alpha and gave quite a bit of feedback, so I was happy to accept Omni saying "thanks" by getting the early adopter discount (and grateful to them for doing that!). Also, as an earlier poster said, I was putting my cash on the line early. For those reasons I agree that discounted purchasers should still get a say. :)

It is a little funny, because after posting that I thought it was too expensive (still kinda do) I went and bought the $99 CD set from David Allen on the Weekly Review.

[url]http://www.davidco.com/store/catalog/New-GTD-Weekly-Review-3-CD-Audio-Set-p-16361.php[/url]

Hey, it is only $33 a CD! :)

BZ

We've already sold over 17,000 copies of OmniFocus, which suggests that the market in general doesn't feel that it's an overpriced product. (OmniFocus sells more copies each week than any of our other products do.)

While the fundamentals of OmniFocus are quite simple (capture, plan, and act), it takes a lot of work to get all the details right: our team worked on version 1.0 for 18 months. Also, your purchase doesn't stop with what we've already delivered: we've already planned out versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.1, and 1.2—all of which will be free updates for anyone who has purchased 1.0.

So, to those of you who feel it's too expensive now: sorry, unless it's free there will always be some people out there who think it's too expensive. I think if you really weigh the benefits of OmniFocus you'll find it's well worth the investment. (If you were to pay for it in installments over the course of a year, it would cost just $6.67 per month!)

And to the 17,000+ of you who've already purchased OmniFocus: thank you!

You have pulled in over a MILLION dollars on OmniFocus? (17,000 x $60)?

WOW! Congratulations. That is really something.

Keep up the good work and can't wait for 1.0.2, 1.1 and 1.2 as well as OmniFocus iPhone Edition! :)

BZ

Woops, sorry, that 17,000+ figure was not actually all that useful for the purposes of this discussion, since that number included the 13,590 pre-orders which we sold at a 50% discount. The more relevant number for this discussion is the 3,475 licenses which have been sold since that discount ended—which is also a number that we're quite happy with.

I've mentioned to Ken before a gripe I had with pricing on another OG app, so it's not like I'm an OG apologist. Having followed their products for several years now, as well as the products of many other developers, the OG is a little more on the ball and offers much more support, product longevity and feature additions to a given product than the majority of other developers.

To put it another way, other companies would more likely charge $50 for v.1, then release a v.2 10 months later for a $30 upgrade charge. They might issue a few bug fixes to v.1, but the OG tends to offer more than that.

I'm also somewhat ignoring OmniWeb for my comments here. It's been a really long time since the last paid update but it also doesn't seem to get the same level of care the other apps do. (Probably because it's in a tougher market.)

An example that I'm dealing with today (waiting to hear back from support) from another company, is a piece of software I bought last year that was advertised as working with Leopard. When the release of Leopard was pushed back due to the iPhone, the company ended up releasing a new version (only 11 months after the previous one) before Leopard shipped. Now they have failed to deliver on Leopard compatibility like they had advertised for the version I bought.

I didn't buy OF in the trial period because I felt that it was the wrong application for me. It just didn't gel with me.

I bought it after the release date because I had to do some time management lessons for a group of colleagues and due to my job I got OF with educational discount. I wasn't sure if I would be entitled to the edu discount. OG said yes, but if they had have said no I would have walked away. It's not that it is too expensive, it is that it is more than I would be willing to pay.

In the end I have decided that the app is just too cluttered to explain time management in a GTD stylee to my colleagues on my 12" PowerBook so I will do it in the shape of index cards and Actiontastic.

I am really trying to love OF, but it is a hard app to love.

When I look at OmniGraffle I think completely differently. It produces stunning flowcharts simply and whilst my Windoze PC loving colleagues struggle with organisation charts in Wurd 2000, or the "lucky" ones get to use Visio, OmniGraffle stands head and shoulders above the rest.

OmniGraffle blows me away as much as OmniFocus doesn't.

Another comment on pricing...

FileMaker has just come out with Bento, a "personal database" program for $49. That seemed great to me! I even tried the trial version but didn't get into it deeply. As it turns out, if you read the Bento forum every day, you'll find that Bento really is quite limited. It can't even print address labels! The list of "can't do's" is quite long at this point.

OF costs a little more, but it does work and has some depth to it. I guess the price seems to be in the right ball park, but I have to admit, $49 apps are like eating M&Ms, so easy to down a bunch of them before you get that belly ache.

For teaching GTD principles one-on-one or in small groups, I would almost always go the paper route. Get the methodology down first, and then it is time to talk automation.

This is the challenge that Omni is facing with new OF users that are not already familiar with GTD. I'd guess that 90% of the "missing" feature requests that we see in this forum are due to this problem. Hopefully they have a plan to address this . . .

Omnifocus isn't cheap, but if you really need it, really use it, worth every penny. It's all subjective. I think photoshop is outrageously expensive. Someone that does graphics work every day might disagree. For someone that doesn't live in omnifocus, or simply need a todo list, 80 bucks might seem high. For me, it's not even a question. Add to that omni's support and I'd pay 100 bucks (though I'm glad to pay only 80).

[QUOTE=Dogsbreath;32913]In the end I have decided that the app is just too cluttered to explain time management in a GTD stylee to my colleagues on my 12" PowerBook so I will do it in the shape of index cards and Actiontastic.

I am really trying to love OF, but it is a hard app to love.[/QUOTE]

Well, everyone's different, but with 17,000 sold I'd say it's quite easy to love. On the other hand, you'd have to pay me to use actiontastic.

I think this thread has gone on for four pages now because everyone uses the same word ("expensive,") but people are meaning different things.

Let's take perhaps the most common ways to define "expensive":

Price
In this meaning, OF is expensive. Its price is the highest among all the early-generation GTD/todo apps that have emerged in the last 18-24 months. This is simply a fact, and many people find it significant and are pointing it out. (and to be fair, I think that more than half the comments that advise a $49 price-point are not from "cheapskates" but from fans of OF who want Omni to be as successful as possible with their new venture and are offering their honest perspective as a consumer with sticker-shock.)

Value
This is dependent almost completely on the individual making the statement. For some people, OF could save them $100 per day by making them more efficient. Others could get by with a 3x5 card and a new pen. This is too subjective a criterion to be dealt with or argued effectively, so we should leave it to the side.

Cost vs Price
Here, I think we have the best argument (though I have no figures to support it) that OF is not expensive. There are simply more people working to make OmniFocus successful than in the cases of competing apps. In the long run, this should mean: more features, better support, better stability, and greater longevity (this last is particularly important). Personally, I don't get the impression that Omni has priced OF at the "what the market will bear" level as much as "what it takes to keep this project going."

In the end, let's try to keep this thread as useful as possible for prospective users who are weighing their options and thinking the same things many of us did before buying.

Wow, what a discussion. OF was just the right price for me. Helped transform my to-do lists in OO to something more organized. If you want to use free software to keep track of your life. Good luck with that. I mean really how hard is it to make another $80? 6 minutes in a Minneapolis bathroom and you're all set, 1/2 hours and you're good for the family pack or maybe even the productivity pack if you know what you're doing. I mean business is business ; )
Just think about it. My wife and I spent 40 bucks the last time we went to a movie and today with our kids we spend $60. I mean that's what we're talking about here, movie and Mickie D's (if you're into that kinda thing). night.

Now that things have cooled off on the thread, I'd like to thank the Omnigroup forum users and administrators for your insightful responses. In my experience it is very rare to find such a concentration of thoughtful and focused professionals. To the folks from Omni, your responses in particular show a great deal of cultivation and consideration, and a deep dedication to well constructed salesmanship. From your products that I have reviewed, I see that same attention to detail mirrored in streamlined and functional tools. Personally, I found your Omnifocus program extremely useful. My major gripe is that I cannot afford it myself.

[QUOTE=Ken Case;32879]We've already sold over 17,000 copies of OmniFocus, which suggests that the market in general doesn't feel that it's an overpriced product. (OmniFocus sells more copies each week than any of our other products do.)

While the fundamentals of OmniFocus are quite simple (capture, plan, and act), it takes a lot of work to get all the details right: our team worked on version 1.0 for 18 months. Also, your purchase doesn't stop with what we've already delivered: we've already planned out versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.1, and 1.2—all of which will be free updates for anyone who has purchased 1.0.

So, to those of you who feel it's too expensive now: sorry, unless it's free there will always be some people out there who think it's too expensive. I think if you really weigh the benefits of OmniFocus you'll find it's well worth the investment. (If you were to pay for it in installments over the course of a year, it would cost just $6.67 per month!)

And to the 17,000+ of you who've already purchased OmniFocus: thank you![/QUOTE]

I'm not going to lie and act like I wouldn't rather pay less for a piece of software. However, I do see the value in Omni software. I own OmniGraffle Pro, OmniOutliner Pro, OmniDazzle, and after testing OmniFocus I'm sure I'll purchase it as well.

Having said that I will point out that personally, based on my past experience with the quality of Omni software, I do feel that OmniFocus doesn't feel quite finished to me. I really do appreciate the 18 months that you've spent working on it and I appreciate that you are currently working on quashing bugs and will release free update. However, when you are asking people to pay $80 for a piece of software the bugs that are remaining shouldn't be quite as glaring. I understand if there are bugs that aren't found until after you get it in the hands of 17,000 users but the obvious ones should be fixed before the 1.0 release. People should not be asked to pay $80 to perform QA on software.

Keep up the hard work. I'm looking forward to a more polished OmniFocus because after just a couple of days I do feel it will be very useful to me.

After all these pages, the one true answer to the question is "Because it can be." Obviously people are willing to buy it and obviously OmniGroup has put in a lot of time developing it and needs to both recover cost and do further development.

Again, I love OmniGroup, own EVERYTHING except for Dazzle (can't find a need) but still think OmniFocus was a little high.

Looking at the upcoming pricing of OmniGraffle 5 ($99.95 for an professional UPGRADE) I think OmniGroup is clearly trending to higher priced software. For some, this will be too much. For others, it is a tool that is invaluable. I mean, that is almost the price of OSX 10.5 Leopard.

At the end of the day, it is a free market and if someone comes in and builds a OF or OG clone for half the price or Open Source, they will lose.

I have noticed, that over the years, my software purchase have gone WAY up.

BZ

Just to followup on this, OmniGraffle Pro went from $149 to $199 which is a hefty increase and the pro ugprade is $99 which is half of NEW price but over 75% of the old price.

That is double dipping math.

BZ

[QUOTE=BwanaZulia;33252]Just to followup on this, OmniGraffle Pro went from $149 to $199 which is a hefty increase and the pro ugprade is $99 which is half of NEW price but over 75% of the old price.[/QUOTE]

Our usual pricing strategy is to let our customers retain 2/3rds of the money they spent on the previous version when they upgrade to a new version. (I think this compares very favorably with the typical upgrade pricing of other commercial productivity products such as Microsoft Office, Photoshop, or Quicken.) Since OmniGraffle Pro 4 costs $149, by following that strategy we came up with a $100 discount for the new release of OmniGraffle Pro 5. Does that make sense?

That said, after listening to feedback and talking it over internally we've decided to give our existing customers an even deeper $125 discount when they upgrade to OmniGraffle Pro 5.

By the way, I've moved the bug discussion to [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=7239"]its own thread[/URL].

[QUOTE=Ken Case;33268]
That said, after listening to feedback and talking it over internally we've decided to give our existing customers an even deeper $125 discount when they upgrade to OmniGraffle Pro 5.[/QUOTE]

Wow, a few posts on the forums and I save myself $25. :)

BTW: I complain because I care. I have been using buying all of your products for years and year and really do enjoy them. I GLADLY pay for each upgrade not only for the new version but to support one of the best Mac software developers on the market.

When you want to open an office in NYC, give me a call! :)

BZ

[QUOTE=BwanaZulia;33292]Wow, a few posts on the forums and I save myself $25. :)

BTW: I complain because I care. I have been using buying all of your products for years and year and really do enjoy them. I GLADLY pay for each upgrade not only for the new version but to support one of the best Mac software developers on the market.

When you want to open an office in NYC, give me a call! :)

BZ[/QUOTE]

I agree. In fact, if they allowed employees to work remotely I would have auditioned for a job with Omni long ago ;)

And I have gone from [B]NO[/B] to maybe.

Personally I don't think OF is 'expensive', in fact I'd say that it represents great value for money.

I charge up to £100 ($200) an hour for my time, and my clients pay it because they value my expertise. So, an hour when I can be out earning is very valuable to me. I'm more than happy to pay Omni for Omnifocus as it saves me HOURS of potentially wasted time every week.

On top of that, I've rarely come across other companies who are as open and responsive to their customers as Omni group and I'm happy to pay a sensible price to allow them to maintain that relationship with their customers.

Would you rather they cut corners, rushed things out and then couldn't back that up with support later?

OmniOutliner discount too small
 

OF looks just like OO. It clearly is a version of OO, so if I own OO Pro which I've got recently to do GTD, it feels like an unnecessary and steep upgrade price.

[QUOTE=braver;33563]OF looks just like OO. It clearly is a version of OO, so if I own OO Pro which I've got recently to do GTD, it feels like an unnecessary and steep upgrade price.[/QUOTE]

That's a bold statement from someone who hasn't seen the source code. Just because there are cosmetic similarities doesn't mean they're the same. In fact, if my memory is correct, Omni has stated that there are fewer similarities than one might think.

[QUOTE=braver;33563]OF looks just like OO. It clearly is a version of OO, so if I own OO Pro which I've got recently to do GTD, it feels like an unnecessary and steep upgrade price.[/QUOTE]

As someone that has used OO for a long time and has been using OF for a week I can say that this is a completely inaccurate and uninformed statement. They are not even close in the way that they operate. Can you format an OO window to look similar to an OF window? Yes. This has NOTHING to do with how the program actually works when you start entering data and working with your tasks. They are like night and day in this regard.

[QUOTE=braver;33563]OF looks just like OO. It clearly is a version of OO, so if I own OO Pro which I've got recently to do GTD, it feels like an unnecessary and steep upgrade price.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I think you need to spend time with both products a little more. While they share some commonalities (as do all OmniGroup products) they end up being pretty different.

BZ

Worth every penny
 

I recently purchased OF and am very happy with the ease and utility in putting GTD to use. I am sure a lot of work went into this fine application and whether it looks similar to other OMNI apps is not an issue. The point is that the program does just what it is intended to, and, the support on this website is amazing. OF is well worth the $80 I paid. For those who believe it is overpriced, check out other software (e.g. David Allen's) and then tell me that OF is too expensive. If you really think it is not worth, what to me seems like a perfectly reasonable price point, then don't buy it.
I am a songwriter and musician, my songs are licensed by ASCAP and copyrighted. The analogy here is the same as people who don't want to pay for music feeling that they should be able to get it for free. They don't see all the work that goes into creating a song, publishing etc. Just as I as a writer am entitled to get paid for my product (song) so should OMNI for their product (OF). Also, as much as I love songwriting - am I not supposed to make a living creating music? My point is that writing is a business and a business exists to make money. If songwriters could not earn a living there would be no music, then what tune would you be singing?
OMNI clearly states that they are a business. If they could not earn a living by producing excellent apps for us MAC users, then what software would you be using?
Sorry, for the rant, but this is a major issue in the music industry and the parallels to the complaints here are just to close to home for me. I will always pay for music I want and I will always pay for software I use.

Wow, what a terrible analogy. I don't think I read anyone in here asking Omni to give away OmniFocus for free.

[QUOTE=frankly;34361]Wow, what a terrible analogy. I don't think I read anyone in here asking Omni to give away OmniFocus for free.[/QUOTE]

I never said that anyone asked for OF for free. Maybe my analogy was not the best. It might have been better had I mentioned all the people who complain about paying 99 cents for a song track as being overpriced and who think we should be charging only 49 cents (I'd be broke). Anyway, I hope my point was understood.

[QUOTE=HowardP;34369]I never said that anyone asked for OF for free. Maybe my analogy was not the best. It might have been better had I mentioned all the people who complain about paying 99 cents for a song track as being overpriced and who think we should be charging only 49 cents (I'd be broke). Anyway, I hope my point was understood.[/QUOTE]

HowardP's analogy may not be perfect, but it still gets the point across: developing software (like writing music) is difficult and requires a lot of hard work. But because there is no physical product involved, and many consumers fail to understand the costs involved, the monetary value is often deflated.

Assigning value to intellectual or virtual products is a difficult thing. I know people who would never steal a 50-cent piece of fruit but have no problem sharing music they didn't pay for. Likewise, I know other who are willing to pay over $100 for a pair of shoes worn only a few times a year, yet balk at the idea of paying for a software package that they use everyday. On top of that, they own 3,500 square foot houses and multiple cars, so it's clearly not a matter of affording the software.

Well I own OO Pro and I broke down and shelled out the $60. Wish it was $40, but then again I just had those Indian lamb chops for $24 I'd better not order to begin with.

You know what, cheapskates? Just say "thank you" every day that you have a privilege of being a Mac user and being catered to by the brilliant bunch of my fellow latte-drinking Seattlites who dare to focus on this rather niche market out of aesthetic calling!

Think about it -- probably those who are going to buy OF are already OO Pro owners. And Omni has to live in this darn expensive corner of the North-West woods we got here. So it's all fair.

Guys and gals, I appreciate what you do. I own two things and may buy more. Sorry about trying to coax a discount before -- but will appreciate it in the future! :)))

Expensive but Worth It
 

I also balked at the $80 price. My initial reaction was "No way!"

I worked through the trial period (feedback: too short for $80 software!) and didn't get a great feel for the application, but did see it's potential to replace my paper + rube-goldberg-applescript methods.

What sold me was support, not on OmniFocus, but on OmniPlan (which I also use and absolutely love). Every request I put in gets an immediate (within the day, often an hour or so later!) and personal response from a real person who knows the software. If only half of the other software companies I purchase from could value customer service like OmniGroup!

So, that having been said, there's my answer. I'm waiting a few more days to budget it in, but I'm sold. $80 is a lot, and I agree wholeheartedly with those of you who say you'd prefer $50. I'd have bought it already at $50! But, that $30 more is psychologically trying. It's butting up against the $100 software realm (there's the $10 realm, then the $30 realm, then the $50 realm, then the $100 realm ...) Still, having gone through the pain of the decision process, I am a bit more likely to stick with this software than I would cheaper software.

From a business perspective, $80 loses a lot of customers, I suspect. But, I also suspect that the remaining customers tend towards the "advocate" end of the spectrum instead of the casual "try to fit this into my life and toss it if it doesn't work immediately" realm. There is a real link between what you pay for something and how much value you place on it, and the higher price (which, in retrospect, isn't all that much higher) places it in a different tier.

I do look forward to "bug fixes", though. I found it generally to be very stable and trustable (especially relative to its competition), but it seemed to take up a significant amount of resources when left up over time. I'll investigate more (sample the process and send in feedback to Omni) once I have a licensed copy to play with.

Totally random request: do folks have any suggestions for alternate titles for this thread that capture the spirit of the original poster's question, but aren't quite as negative as 'why is it so expensive'?

On the one hand, it's a valuable discussion, and I don't want to muck with that, but on the other, every time it pops back up to the top of the list, the built-in assertion that it [B]is[/B] expensive erodes my soul a tiny bit. ;-)

I came up with 'is OmniFocus worth the price?', but wanted to run it past third parties before changing anything. Other suggestions welcomed.

What about just "Omnifocus pricing"?

[QUOTE=RiK;34437]What about just "Omnifocus pricing"?[/QUOTE]

I agree with Brian that the title for this thread is too negative, it assumes that OF is too expensive - which, of course, it is not. However, Brian's suggestion still carries a negative connotation.

So, I vote for your suggestion "OmniFocus Pricing?", says it all with a neutral connotation. In fact, I would leave off the question mark and simply state "OmniFocus Pricing", period.

Change the title?
 

I'm not sure it would be a good idea to change the title. It's probable that it's gotten such good response because the title is somewhat confrontational. It isn't subtle, and it touches people in the right place that they are drawn into the issue.

As the person who started this thread, I felt that Omnifocus was too expensive. I believe it is a worthwhile tool, and only wish that I could afford it myself.

Judging from the responses here, folks either seem to be evangelic about the software and willing to defend it regardless of price, glad that they were able to get the software at the upgrade discount, or in agreement that it is too expensive as a stand-alone software. What I haven't seen are many people who have joined the ranks of Omni customers as Omnifocus Users. It's a fairly new product, so I'm not going to put that out of perspective.

What I have seen here that pleases me, is that there are a significant number of quality posts that I feel successfully justify Omnifocus's price, by pointing to the integrity of the Omni Group in general. However, these posts don't suggest that Omnifocus is worth the expense itself, but that the development and support are of a quality that does.

As a person who only contacts support when a product breaks or crashes, quality support means something to me but not very much in terms of cash value. Quality development more so, but at such an early stage in a software's life-cycle it's not uncommon to still have a full team (not just three developers) working on the product. So, that takes me right back to my original question: why is Omnifocus, as a piece of software, so expensive?

[QUOTE=neb;34459]As a person who only contacts support when a product breaks or crashes, quality support means something to me but not very much in terms of cash value. Quality development more so, but at such an early stage in a software's life-cycle it's not uncommon to still have a full team (not just three developers) working on the product. So, that takes me right back to my original question: why is Omnifocus, as a piece of software, so expensive?[/QUOTE]

Three developers is a full development team for us - because we have incredibly talented folks on the team. Remember; we have 10 developers to spread across all our products. OmniFocus represents over a quarter of our developers.

In general, the number of folks on a team is a poor metric of value.

If I'm understanding what you're saying here correctly, you'd object less to the price if we had more engineers on the team, producing code that required you to contact support more often?

Edit: clarified the developers-to-products ratio.

[QUOTE=neb;34459]What I haven't seen are many people who have joined the ranks of Omni customers as Omnifocus Users.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't read too much into this: the pool of folks willing to post on the forums is not representative of our overall customer base. As someone who reads support mail all day, I see big differences in experience level, to begin with.

[Customer pool] > [Forum readers] > [Forum posters]

[QUOTE=neb;34459]Judging from the responses here, folks either seem to be evangelic about the software and willing to defend it regardless of price, glad that they were able to get the software at the upgrade discount, or in agreement that it is too expensive as a stand-alone software.[/QUOTE]

Maybe I'm misinterpreting your meaning, but I object slightly to this assessment. Using terms like "evangelic" and "willing to defend it regardless of price" suggest that enthusiastic customers who are very satisfied with the product and consider the price fair are irrational and have come to their conclusion without good reason.

It's the same stereotyping that is often applied to enthusiastic customers of Apple. They're called "Mac zealots" or referred to as the "Cult of Apple". Sometimes, no offense it intended, but it's still a derogatory label.

Isn't it possible that these enthusiastic customers are technically astute consumers who have looked closely at OmniFocus (or any Omni Group or Apple product, for that matter), compared it to the competition, thought deeply on the matter, and come to a clear conclusion supported by evidence and rational thought?

I'm sure there are plenty of zealots out there, but just because proponents are vocal in their appreciation of the product doesn't mean they're "willing to defend it regardless of price" like some kind of mindless zombies.

Also, many of those who have stated that they're "glad that they were able to get the software at the upgrade discount" have also added that they would have been willing to pay the full price if it had been necessary. And many of those discounts were gained by purchasing OmniFocus early, before it was even released, which, in many ways, is a greater vote of confidence than paying the full price after release.

[QUOTE=neb;34459]Quality development more so, but at such an early stage in a software's life-cycle it's not uncommon to still have a full team (not just three developers) working on the product. [/QUOTE]

I would like to note that while there are three coders who are dedicated to the OmniFocus desktop (not iPhone) application, there are not only three people contributing to this project. (Although there is an incredibly impressive wealth of knowledge between those three.)

When that meeting is called or a discussion is formed, there are at least three coders, two support ninjas other than myself, our support manager, at least one person from QA, one person from Marketing and our UI/Documentation person participating in discussions whence OmniFocus is born.

Although, if we count those there representing the voice of the users, I think it jumps to several thousand. :-)

(Sidenote: Brian and I discussed it and we've decided that the name of this thread is not currently representative of its contents. If y'all object, we can always change it back.)

This is longish, so I'm going to prefix it with this: I don't think the thread title should be changed. (Rats - looks like it already has been.)


[QUOTE=neb;34459]... at such an early stage in a software's life-cycle it's not uncommon to still have a full team (not just three developers) working on the product.[/QUOTE]

Define "full team." We have small teams, but there is far more involvement than simply a few developers. For a start, there are multiple people doing OmniFocus tech support, and project management duties for that team. (With some overlap of responsibilities.)

In addition, there are people whose involvement with OmniFocus development is more sporadic but still very important and which involve major effort specifically on the part of that particular product. For instance, multiple people involved with UI design, writing documentation and on-line help, testing/QA, marketing (creating screencasts, doing presentations, creating artwork, etc), and probably more that isn't occurring to me at the moment. Some of that is up-front effort that will get little attention between development cycles, other things require a lot of ongoing effort.

When we have OmniFocus team meetings, a lot more people than "three developers" show up. And of course there are more people here actually making sure that the company and infrastructure are running smoothly so that everyone else can do their jobs. They don't (typically) attend the OmniFocus team meetings, and you may not think of them as part of the OmniFocus "team", but that team sure needs those people. (And we all certainly think of ourselves and everyone else here as part of the same team overall.)


I hope this reply doesn't sound harsh - I really don't mean it to. I totally support customers - and non-customers - giving us their feedback, whether it be to compliment us for something we've done right, or to tell us that they aren't purchasing because the product is too expensive (or that they are purchasing but are unhappy about the price) - we need to know all of these things, and we're generally not going to know if people don't tell us. I just really wanted to respond to the idea that the team is just three people - the team is a lot larger and the effort much greater than may be immediately apparent from the outside.

-andrew

[UPDATE: Sorry - looks like Michaela beat me to this.]

too expensive or what you are willing to pay
 

I think when it comes to price you have to thank of a couple things

one --- there were 13,590 sold at $49 (I apologize if I have gotten this wrong...it's been a while)

and 3,475 were sold at 80

I will assume there is a 50 percent mark up from $40.... (I don't really know anything, but I thought I would expound a bit)

$12,2310 was made off the first 13,590 ($9 times 13,590)
$13,9000 was made off the next 3,475 ($40 times 3,475)

on that assumption alone, Omni made the right choice, granted this doesn't take into consideration the benefit of how much those first buyers helped with research.

I would doubt if Omni kept the price at $49 they would have sold another 13,590....and assuming they barely broke eving at $49, now they need to make some money --- not to mention I am getting updates so they still have [URL="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=code+monkeys+listening+to+Jonathan+Coulton&spell=1"][B][I]codemonkeys[/I][/B] listening to [B][I]Jonathan[/I][/B] Coulton[/URL]

[thought two]

If Omni Focus was kept at a cheaper price (at least close to what the predicted price will be for Things) Omni Group could pull a bill gates and wipe the competition off the map. Not sure if that would happen, but who knows


[thought three]

There are $20 customers (shareware), $49 users (casual users like me) and $80 users (professional). I would guess a lot of the people complaing about the $80 price are really the $20 customers who may not even buy the product at $49. {just as there are professionals who will expand their budget because it is a tool they need to use.}

I am a fan of GTD, but I am not married to it yet. I see the value of it and of Omni-F, but my finances and dedication to GTD makes it so I was willing to pay $49, but not $80 --- in fact I paid $49 because I was afraid I wouldn't get it to pay $80. If I would be signing on now I would not be reading or writing this forum, let alone buying the product. I would be using/forcing Journler to work for me.

I would guess this discussion might be somewhat academic. Omni has a good number of users who like me aren't going anywhere. I am looking at Things, but they would have to do something big and soon to make me want to spend another $49


I do know the fact I got in on the ground floor I can see the value in Omni-F, but I am still a casual user and likely would have a hard time making an $80 purchase. It is worth $129 if you use it . . . and can afford it.

"What I haven't seen are many people who have joined the ranks of Omni customers as Omnifocus Users. It's a fairly new product, so I'm not going to put that out of perspective."

Well, count me as one who has joined the OMNI family by purchasing OF at the release price of $80. What impresses me the most is the openness of the OMNI staff in responding to users concerns on any number of issues. I have rarely found a company so dedicated to their customers and so willing to discuss the inner workings and reasons behind their decisions. To me this more than justifies the cost of the program.

Further, I would not consider myself a "evangelical zealot", but rather a rational person who researched a number of GTD applications and came to a reasoned conclusion that OF would meet my needs in a user-friendly way and offer exceptional customer support. I must say that I honestly believe that I made the right choice.

My 2 Cents
 

Back in October I switched from a Windows(Linux Dual Boot) based Laptop to a MacBook Pro. Most of the software purchases have simply been to replace software that I had on the windows machine. The two notable exceptions to this were OmniOutliner Pro and OmniFocus. I scoffed a bit at the prices of both (although I did get reduced pricing on OmniFocus) but after taking the the time to learn them, I would spend the money again.

I agree with Knight777 - $80 is worth it, even if it is only to stop the never ending circle of "gotta have the latest". I moved from kGTD using OOP (which is also worth the money, and I still use daily). Prior to that it was Circus Ponies' Notebook, which I also still use and is also worth the money. And I'm not rich, either...

[QUOTE=HowardP;34500]"What I haven't seen are many people who have joined the ranks of Omni customers as Omnifocus Users. It's a fairly new product, so I'm not going to put that out of perspective."[/QUOTE]

I have!! I'm a "graduate research assistant" (read low-paid academic researcher) and I was looking for something to manage my research projects and some 20-30 potential collaborations with different people--I wanted to views, which is basically the plan view and the context view. My husband sent me a link to some Merlin thing, which said it was compatible with one of the Omni things.. and I found OmniGroup. I've since purchased OmniFocus, OmniOutliner and probably will get DiskSweeper.. and maybe once I'm not as low-paid, I'll get OmniPlan to help plan courses.

THIS SOFTWARE IS AWESOME! And, since I'm from Seattle, just add up a few lattes and parking fees--bike and brew my own--and the cost of the software is covered. Now if only I'd purchased them all at once to take advantage of bundle pricing.

Oh yeah, full disclosure, I'm a graduate student so I qualified for academic pricing, but given what grad students are paid, I'd say that's probably the equivalent of the $80 fee.

[QUOTE=RiK;33402]
I charge up to £100 ($200) an hour for my time, and my clients pay it because they value my expertise. So, an hour when I can be out earning is very valuable to me. I'm more than happy to pay Omni for Omnifocus as it saves me HOURS of potentially wasted time every week.[/QUOTE]

Thanks RiK - this is (ahem - excuse the expression) right on the money!

At the end of the day, one gets to choose how much one is worth not to mention the commitment you make to the s/w (ultimately your life!). Of course...not everyone is or sees themselves getting paid at such rates - easier said than done :)

Who has their fingers crossed the iPhone app will be a rockbottom $9.99 next the the $199 iPhone? ;-)

I have paid far more for programs I use far less than OF. As others have pointed out, if you don't like the price, there are free alternatives out there. But, in this area at least, you get what you pay for.

iPhone + Desktop Bundle
 

I'd like to put in my vote for a discounted bundle containing licenses for both the iPhone and Desktop apps... or a cross-grade discount... or whatever. When the new iPhone comes out, I'm almost certainly going to switch from my well-worn Treo 650 and as a Treo user, I'm used to my portable and desktop apps being priced as one rather than two. Plus, I'm going to have to drop some notable cash to crossgrade some of my apps, so any discounts available would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we have any options with regard to bundles or discounts on Apple's iPhone App Store. They just aren't set up yet to be able to support such things. Hopefully that will come, but for the initial launch of the App Store that's out of our hands.

Seems like you could at least offer a knock-down on the price of the desktop apps to someone who could show they bought the iPhone app first, no? Of course, this assumes you get some identifiable tidbit back from Apple that you could match against to verify that the the customer in question did buy the iPhone app...

No iPhone here, nor short-term plans for one, and I already own all the desktop apps except OmniDazzle, so I'm not heavily invested in getting you to do this, just pointing out that there might be things you could do without waiting for Apple to tailor the store to your needs...

I will point out that the Omni store gives you an automatic discount when you buy more than one app/license at a time, so it is worth bunching up your purchases!

a few more cents...

when the last day of my eval come around - i had a next action in OF to do a pro/con analysis and make a decision to buy it or not.

well - fact of the matter is the tool empowered me to complete my first weekly review after falling off the GTD horse for at least a year and it felt even better to complete 2 in a row!

That said, it was a no brainer, I didn't even need to think about purchasing the tool - it was very satisfying to use my intuition to buy a piece of technology rather than busting out a mindmap for first time in my life :)

I big part of the decision was the community support - you guys rock!

FYI - I am a successful convert from the Netcentrics/Outlook camp - I'll write a bit more in [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=5731"]this thread[/URL].

Competitive and combo pricing
 

Doesn't Apple provide the email of the people who purchase the iphone version to Omni ? It is really hard for me to believe they don't.

So they could use that, for somebody purchasing the mac version to provide a 'combo, discount.

Additionally there should be a competitive pricing for user switching from paied apps (i.e. Things) to OF.

Finally some discount periods wouldn't also hurt.
So one week with a 20% off, wouldn't hurt the company's financials and at the same time enable more users to more easily decide.

For me a price of 65 would be more appropriate.
So for the 4K licenses bought at 80 would have cost Omni 6K which would have probably being covered by the excess licenses from people deciding not to pay the 80.

So to summarize, 80 is a lot but 50 is too little, so split the difference while at the same time provide combos and competitive discounts.

[QUOTE=vballas;55773]Doesn't Apple provide the email of the people who purchase the iphone version to Omni ? It is really hard for me to believe they don't.[/QUOTE]

Actually, they really don't! What Apple provides us is a count of how many iPhone apps they sold in each market each day; there's no information about individual purchasers.

[QUOTE]Additionally there should be a competitive pricing for user switching from paied apps (i.e. Things) to OF.[/QUOTE]

Competitive upgrades do make sense when introducing a new application to a space where there's established competition (where users currently in that market have an existing investment), but in this case OmniFocus was the first app to market in its space.

[QUOTE]For me a price of 65 would be more appropriate.
So for the 4K licenses bought at 80 would have cost Omni 6K which would have probably being covered by the excess licenses from people deciding not to pay the 80.[/QUOTE]

That sales figure is rather dated! We've now sold 44,000 copies on the Mac and 50,000 copies on the iPhone, and both continue to have strong, steady sales.

[QUOTE=Ken Case;55786]We've now sold 44,000 copies on the Mac and 50,000 copies on the iPhone, and both continue to have strong, steady sales.[/QUOTE]

Apparently the market feels the current price is fair, as do I. :-)

-Dennis

[QUOTE=Ken Case;55786]We've now sold 44,000 copies on the Mac and 50,000 copies on the iPhone, and both continue to have strong, steady sales.[/QUOTE]

Wow! Very cool. I wonder how many of those Mac licences drove iPhone/iPod Touch sales. I know I'm not the only one!