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.
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.