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$40? Seriously? [OmniFocus for iPad Pricing Feedback] Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by bnz View Post
Lol, oh my. This isn't at all a workaround for something that the app should do in the first place ;-)
I'm all about getting things done with the tools at hand. If you have the luxury of waiting around until the perfect bespoke toolset comes your way before getting to work, that's great. I get the impression that most people who come here looking for help aren't in that boat.
 
I don't necessarily have a problem with the price tag - I've used the OmniOutliner-based precursor to OmniFocus, and was one of the first purchasers of OmniFocus for the Mac as well as the iPhone. It's a tool, and I get more than enough value for what I'm paying for the different versions of the application.

My frustration with the price stems largely from Omni's decision to - first - refund iPhone app buyers $25 and then - second - to change that to just a refund of the original purchase price. But at the same time, they're doing nothing for people who have already invested in both versions of the application (and, in many cases, have purchased a variety of other Omni applications, family versions, upgrades, etc.).

It all comes across as taking care of customers who've recently joined the fold, while ignoring those who've been loyal users for, in many cases, years. I appreciate that discounting in the App Store is problematic, but you've managed to figure out a process for the iPhone refunds, so it can't be quite that difficult.

I've purchased the iPad app, and I expect to get full value. But I can't help but feel that Omni is sending a strange message in terms of which customers it plans to reward.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypotyposis View Post
Back to the debate on GTD and priorities? :D
Well, errrr. In the case of Todo, I just use them to not lose track of what is important. Otherwise, in both Todo and Omnifocus, the important things would easily move somewhere way down in the list.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bnz View Post
Well, errrr. In the case of Todo, I just use them to not lose track of what is important. Otherwise, in both Todo and Omnifocus, the important things would easily move somewhere way down in the list.
Just in case you haven't seen what Curt once referred to as "the mother of all threads"... http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=3836
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bnz View Post

The people who claim that OF is so much better than Todo and/or Toodledo probably have never worked with it. I find this combination highly efficient. On the other hand, having a good Mac client is nice to have as well. You don't have that with Todo and Toodledo. But then, something simple like sorting after priority first, and then after due dates doesn't seem to be possible with OF. Honestly
Well, I think this is rather presumptuous on your part. I have all these applications and more in my iPad and before OF for iPad, I tried them all. In fact, I have iPhone applications for these programs as well, and tried them all.

I'm glad that you find these programs serve your need and please continue to use them.

I for one do not; so, let's stop it here.

I'm puzzled though why you are so worked up "against" OF for iPad when you find these other program satisfactory and suit your needs . . .
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypotyposis View Post
Just in case you haven't seen what Curt once referred to as "the mother of all threads"... http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=3836
Oh god... I hope that thread dies some day.

BZ
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwanazulia View Post
oh god... I hope that thread dies some day.

Bz
:d :d :d :d :d

EDIT: apparently the "mother of all threads" doesn't appreciate irony on its behalf... So my smilies remain "disemvoweled"...
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by drgardner View Post
I don't necessarily have a problem with the price tag - I've used the OmniOutliner-based precursor to OmniFocus, and was one of the first purchasers of OmniFocus for the Mac as well as the iPhone. It's a tool, and I get more than enough value for what I'm paying for the different versions of the application.

My frustration with the price stems largely from Omni's decision to - first - refund iPhone app buyers $25 and then - second - to change that to just a refund of the original purchase price. But at the same time, they're doing nothing for people who have already invested in both versions of the application (and, in many cases, have purchased a variety of other Omni applications, family versions, upgrades, etc.).

I totally understand why you might feel this way, but I think Brian addressed this really well in series of comments on our blog last night:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian

I’m really sorry that the reimbursements left you feeling like we didn’t care about you; we didn’t intend to make folks feel that way. Whenever possible, we want customers to feel good about us and the products they purchase from us. We know we’ll never reach 100% customer satisfaction, but we’re going to try to get as close to that mark as we possibly can.

I’m hoping it’ll help to clarify the reasoning behind the purchase reimbursements we’re doing. They aren’t meant as a sales gimmick or a “new customer discount”. In fact, it’s not a discount at all; we’re reimbursing the purchases a specific group of customers made. Customers with iPads but no iPhone. (Will some folks with both devices take advantage of this program? Probably. Don’t like it, wish they wouldn’t, but hey, them’s the breaks.)

Why? So they can buy the product they really wanted - OmniFocus for iPad - without paying the extra cost of the iPhone product they were using temporarily.

Ideally, all of our applications would have been available on iPad launch day, but our team is not big enough to do that. When we decided that OmniFocus for iPad wouldn’t be available at iPad launch day, part of the reason we did that was because the option of using the iPhone app on the device was there.

Now that the iPad application is ready, iPad-only customers can use either product. Customers with both devices can either buy both products, or use the iPhone application on both. And if someone wants to use the iPhone app on their iPad to save some money, they should have that option. That’s great.

What we didn’t want was to collect *extra* money from someone that was willing to wait for us to finish the iPad application and use the iPhone one in the meantime. We want those folks to spend the same amount as everyone else that chooses to buy OmniFocus for iPad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian

I think another thing that caused confusion was that we were originally planning to reimburse with iTunes gift cards, which only come in $15 and $25 varieties. Since there was no perfect option, we chose the latter, but it’s clear that made some folks feel even more left out.

Between that issue and the problems with getting international purchasers gift cards in the right currency, we switched to a plan where folks can have their purchase reimbursed via a mailed check maid, a Paypal transfer, or credit on our store.

It wasn’t communicated well, and I take personal responsibility for that. It was and is well-intentioned, though, so I’m doubly sorry it left a bad taste in your mouth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian

time-limited sales make one group of people - the ones that get the discount - happy. Unfortunately, there’s another group - the people that don’t - who end up unhappy that they missed out. The longer your application is around, the larger that second group gets: folks hear that there was a sale and someone else paid less than they did.

Worse, people don’t end up in either group on the basis of loyalty - folks who hear about the sale and buy get it. Folks on trips, without ‘net access, who were busy, or who just plain forgot are left out and feel bad.

We have some of the best customers anywhere and we really appreciate them - but we would prefer to earn our customers’ loyalty with great applications, fair treatment, and top-notch support. We feel those are far more valuable in the long run.
 
I've been in the industry for fifteen years, so I do understand what it takes to develop, test and release a quality application. And I don't fault Omni for making the decision to price OF for iPad at a point which they felt was appropriate, given the development investment.

Unfortunately, as a customer who purchased the OSX version and iPhone versions immediately at release, the $40 purchase of this version is at a point I feel to be too high on top of all the other purchases. I personally wouldn't expect it to be $5, that's not realistic for an app of this quality. But I do feel $20-25 is more in line with the application.

I wish Omni the best, but I'm at a point where I feel like I'm not willing to keep investing money if there is never going to be incentivized pricing for pre-existing customers.
 
I think this thread has been an interesting discussion, because it raises a lot of issues about perceived value, and it has the benefit of a clearly informed group of people getting involved. The level of discussion on this forum is far more evolved than most other forums I'm involved in!

The only issue raised that has riled me so far - not on these forums so much, but elsewhere - is one or two people commenting that "if you can't afford" OF for iPad then you don't need it. Affordability is a straw-man, as many would technically be able to "afford" paying a four or five figure sum for something if they had to pay out such an amount, but we don't base our purchasing decisions solely on affordability, we base them on our perceived value of the product.

As a developer myself, I'm a fan of the "per-user" rather than "per-machine" model. If I buy or sell a piece of software aimed at the desktop market, I like the user to be able to install it on all their systems without having to pay per machine. But that's becoming an old world model... OmniFocus for Mac is an entirely different piece of software than OmniFocus for iPhone, which is again different to OmniFocus for iPad. Each iteration has had their own entirely separate development costs, so we can't expect them to be priced on a per-user basis. To be fair, some software companies are eating up the costs and releasing universal versions of their software which don't require the end-user to splash out more cash... but would you happy if OF for iPad was merely a port of the iPhone app? I doubt it, and so there are development costs involved in creating a new application.

The biggest issue is that OG's prices are, not twice or three times as much as their competitors on the app store, but often ten times as high. That's always going to raise debate, and quite right too... But that's an issue for the entire industry, and the fact that I (and most of you guys too probably!) have paid the price means that we believe it a price worth paying. I tried Pocket Informant for £3.99 and concluded it was a waste of space. I've now spent £23.99 on OF, and for anyone using it in a professional capacity, that will pay itself back in no time, but price still has to be justified. I can absolutely understand people raising price as an issue, especially those not already familiar with the desktop and iPhone version of the product who won't want to risk such an investment just to give it a try. Despite that, I still think OF is the best value on the market.

I think the one thing OG could have done to mitigate any frustration is introducing an introductory price that would let those of us who have already bought in (financially and metaphorically) to the desktop and iPhone product get a little discount. That would have made me feel all warm and cuddly toward OG. But, they have no obligation to do so, and I bought the product regardless, and it's a great product. But the price point was always going to cause debate... and so it should, because OG are leading the pack in testing whether iPad owners are prepared to stump up proper money for proper apps.

Last edited by pmdf; 2010-07-31 at 03:52 PM..
 
 


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