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OF Pricing: The great debate of '08 Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
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:
Originally Posted by neb View Post
... 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.
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.]

Last edited by Andrew; 2008-03-14 at 03:48 PM..
 
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 codemonkeys listening to Jonathan Coulton

[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.
 
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:
Originally Posted by HowardP View Post
"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."
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:
Originally Posted by RiK View Post
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.
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.
 
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.
 
 


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