

As of today, App.net is a freemium service - anu_gupta
http://blog.app.net/2013/02/25/introducing-a-free-tier/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=introducing-a-free-tier

======
dangero
I'm going to look at this from their perspective. They have a ton of
subscribers right now, but they have 2 problems on the near horizon:

1\. They know that a lot of subscribers have abandoned the service and
probably won't pay again, but they don't want to have to report that the
number of users is declining once those subscriptions start to expire.

2\. Acquiring new customers is not happening fast enough to keep critical mass
or grow.

This move is to address those two problems. I also think it's a negative
signal for the future of the company because I don't think a limited free
account will get people to join. While they make clear that they are not a
Twitter clone, the concept of following people is a Twitter concept, and you
don't have those same limitations on a Twitter free account.

There's something in general that bothers me about App.net. In my career I've
found that software engineers rarely are able to climb the org chart like
business people are. The reason I've found is that engineers in general have a
certain disdain for schmoozing and company politics, so they try to isolate
themselves from it. App.net's marketing pitch I feel appeals to that
isolationist desire and that's part of the reason it was such a hit.

~~~
eridius
What's your evidence to support claim #1?

~~~
ChikkaChiChi
Actually, I think the lack of active users was proven recently.

This "goodwill" move seems to reinforce that. This smells like Second Life's
PR all over again.

edit: OP changed #1. Used to say they had a ton of users.

~~~
dangero
Are you talking about me? I didn't change my post in any way.

------
benatkin
And the million dollar question is how do I convert my paid account to a free
account? Will it happen automatically after the year I got from the
KickStarter-like program runs out? Also being able to follow a maximum of 40
people sounds like a feature, not a bug.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
The pledge was for $50. In October, the annual fee was lowered to $36. As a
result, current members received 5 extra months on top of the first year. By
the time your credit is up, in February or March 2014, I'm sure you'll be able
to change your account to a free plan.

[http://blog.app.net/2012/10/01/app-net-pricing-
changes/?utm_...](http://blog.app.net/2012/10/01/app-net-pricing-
changes/?utm_campaign=emails&utm_source=emailsrc&utm_medium=email)

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laureny
First they charge for it.

Then they make it free.

Then they die.

------
bdcravens
I'm sorry, all of the replies on HN begging for invites are kind of annoying.

~~~
runn1ng
If you have enough karma for that, downvote all of them.

~~~
bdcravens
I did.

------
orangethirty
Seems like a move to inject some momentum into a stalled growth.

~~~
juan_juarez
In the MMORPG world, even handing out free trials, let alone going free to
play, is often a sign that a game that's dying. It's a last-ditch effort to
keep things going for a few more months.

~~~
eridius
Is World of Warcraft dying? They've been handing out free trials for many
years now.

~~~
juan_juarez
It's not always a bad sign, as both WoW & EVE Online have trials and are both
running quite strong. In most cases, however, unless the game was launched
with free trials/F2P in their business model, it's a sign that they're
struggling to get/retain users.

~~~
eridius
Well, App.Net was launched with two Freemium services (GitHub and Dropbox) as
their model for a successful service. I have no reason to disbelieve Dalton
when he says Freemium was always the plan, especially since ADN users have
been clamoring for a free tier pretty much since day 1.

------
trotsky
_So remember this: at its core, App.net is an ad-free, subscription-based
platform, a backbone, a dialtone._ [1]

I had to go back and find that to make sure I wasn't misremembering. If the
free tier includes a cap on the number of people you can follow, has the
"we're not just a pay twitter" angle been abandoned?

[1] <http://blog.app.net/2012/08/>

------
runn1ng
I have given more downvotes in this story comment section than in my whole
Hacker News history.

~~~
bdcravens
Yep, me too.

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perishabledave
Anyone see the 40 people limit as a problem with this working? I would think
limiting connections would limit the usefulness of the service, leading free
users to dismiss ADN.

I would like to see ADN become a fully armed and op.. err fully sustainable
service (I paid up when they started), but I'm wondering if they should have
went further with the free tier.

~~~
eridius
For a lot of people, the only ADN functionality they really care about is that
which replicates Twitter. How do you provide a free tier to these people that
doesn't remove any incentive to go paid? Limiting the number of people you can
follow seems like a great way to do this.

~~~
perishabledave
I'm interested to see what uses people come up with for ADN's storage. If
there are some neat uses, that could be a great incentive.

I don't disagree with the limit providing a great incentive to go paid, but
when a free user joins, there is a point where the user decides this service
is neat/useful enough that he wants to pay for it. I wonder if this limit
might hinder people reaching that point.

------
supercoder
Free as in falling.

------
mumphster
Glad to see this. I really liked playing around with their API and even wrote
a SMS <-> App.Net gateway client thing (<https://github.com/Ell/appdotnet-
sms/blob/master/app.py>)

------
jwarzech
For those wanting to jump onto App.net backstitch (<http://backstit.ch>) has
over 100 invites to give out.

~~~
mandlar
Verified. Send a request to their twitter @backstitchapp

~~~
jwarzech
We are sending them out as quick as we can! :)

~~~
js4all
I can confirm that. Thanks for the instant access.

~~~
jwarzech
No problem! I am excited to see more people talking on App.net

------
scott_to_s
App.net was a great refuge away from all the spammers, and I'm totally happy
to pay to keep them out. Very disappointed in this change of policy.

~~~
Avenger42
You still shouldn't get spammers - if all of a paid member's invites go to
people who get blacklisted as spammers shortly afterwards, that member
shouldn't get any more invites to offer.

------
ChikkaChiChi
I thought that the paywall was supposed to keep degenerates like me away from
those cliques that formed during the early years of the term "blogosphere"
Wasn't the whole point of this to make you pay to listen to people like
Scoble?

The only people who care about platforms are people like us. The average user
doesn't care about App.Net being a "more civilized" Twitter.

------
kevingibbon
When do we deem the App.net experiment a failure?

~~~
trafficlight
If it's an experiment it's neither a success nor failure. It's just a data
point.

------
webwanderings
So this starts a new business model: app.net apps and their paid users
prostituting for customers/followers with an invite?

------
ineedtosleep
I haven't followed app.net too closely, but was that fact that "[...] [they]
initially conceived of App.net as a freemium service" a secret at all? From
the tone of the comments so far, it's like this entire thing is a surprise.

------
antoni
Can the new (free tier) members also invite other people?

------
jwarzech
If anyone is still interested in invites, backstitch (<http://backstit.ch>)
still has a bunch to hand out.

------
manish_gill
The paid angle was the only reason I never bothered with app.net. Seems like I
need to ask around for invites now. :)

Anybody got one?

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sucrenoir
I would love an invite jm[at]iesta.com Thanks :)

------
jh3
I can invite three people.

edit: All gone.

~~~
mazsa
peter dot hnusername at gmail. Thank you.

~~~
mazsa
Thanks:)

------
lovamova
If this account gets an invite lovamova&#64;gmail.com, I think I don't visit
HN daily for nothing.

------
samoakley
Anyone with remaining invites, It'd be great if you could hook me up with one:
sam(at)blork.co.uk

------
IbJacked
Any more invites floating around? I'd love to have one :)

silentreign at gmail.com

------
theootz
If anyone has an extra invite, would love to have one please:
ootz0rz+hn@gmail.com

------
gatesphere
Hopping on the begging train: gatesphere [at] gmail.

Thanks!

------
evanmoran
Would love an invite if anyone has any left. My name at gmail!

------
josiahthomas
I would love an invite. josiahdthomas [at] gmail [dot] com

------
1morematt
I WOULD LOVE AN INVITE!!! matt [at] ingrouille [dot] net

~~~
bluetidepro
Sent you one

------
dmalenko
Any spare invite for dmalenko @ gmail.com, please?

------
goldfeld
If you want an invite follow me on app.net.

~~~
olalonde
I'll be happy to follow if you invite me :) Email in profile.

------
tuananh
wow lots of people got invited. If anyone til got a spare invite, please send
me [at] tuananh.us .Thanks a bunch.

------
indy
If anyone still wants an invite, I've got 3 available. Just send your email
address to appdotnetinvite@indy.io

------
adamnemecek
Let me try some reverse psychology: No one send me an invite at
adamnemecek(shift+2)gmail.com.

~~~
MWil
no invite sent!

------
nealpgards
would love an invite if anyone has an extra! nealpgardner at gmail

------
terhechte
I do have some invites, email me at appetizer@instadesk-app.com first come,
first serve :)

~~~
Avenger42
I emailed to request one. If you're out, thanks anyway!

Edit - got it, thanks a million!

------
IceyEC
I'd appreciate an invite if anybody has one to share: chmacnaughton [at] gmail
[dot] com

------
kmlymi
if anyone has an invite left, kmlymi (at) gmail.com please.

------
danielsamuels
I wouldn't mind an invite if someone has one going: daniel.samuels1@gmail.com

------
selectout
Joining in the crowd...anyone else have an invite? calvin [at] selectout.org

------
gogoalba
could you give me invitation, thanks, hsj717#126.com，

------
ronaldsvilcins
Would love an invite to app.net please, ronalds.vilcins@gmail.com

------
ronaldsvilcins
Can someone invite me, please? ronalds.vilcins [at] gmail.com

------
MWil
invite plz wilcut.matthew at gmail dot com

------
GVRV
Would love an invite! :)

gaurav [at] dadhania [dot] in

------
csmeder
I would love an invite. My email is csmeder (gmail.com)

------
tsurantino
Can someone spare me an invite? arturtsurkan@gmail.com

------
pkrumins
Can I've an invite please? peteris.krumins@gmail.com

~~~
dpatrick86
Me too. dan@mdpatrick.com

~~~
jwarzech
Sent you an invite!

~~~
ronaldsvilcins
can you sent me too? ronalds.vilcins [at] gmail.com :)

~~~
jwarzech
Sent!

------
mcantelon
Anyone got an invite?

mcantelon at gm ail dot com

------
igorgue
Invite please? igfgt1 [at] gmail [dot] com

------
tylermauthe
would love an invite please, me@tylermauthe.com

~~~
bluetidepro
Here you go: <https://join.app.net/p/kvyxdfrbhj>

------
jpinkerton88
invite please? :)

~~~
jdolitsky
email me for an invite: josh@dreamsha.re

~~~
jdolitsky
those went fast! all out people

------
criley
The second that App.net was announced and I saw the prices, I was out. You
don't pay money to develop for a service that only developers are using.

The price was extremely high in comparison to what it offered: Sure, Apple
charges to develop for iOS, but iOS has a few hundred million credit-card
enabled customers buying software. App.net had a bunch of already-paid
developers using the service.

I tried to figure out the point through a few emails with the creator but
ultimately it felt like a service for developers flush with spending money to
join a sort of app vanity press.

I'm glad that it's opening up now and I'm suddenly starting to get interested
in the project!

~~~
Void_
Meh, App.net always seemed to me like an elite club of rich Twitter haters...

Like by having an account you're saying, hey, I'm rich enough to spend
$5/month just because I don't like a company.

Give it to charity for goodness sake.

~~~
eridius
Meh, Github always seemed to me like an elite club of rich Bitbucket haters...

Like by having an account you're saying, hey, I'm rich enough to spend $7/mo
just because I like a pretty UI.

Give it to charity for goodness sake.

~~~
Apocryphon
Bitbucket's free private repositories is a godsend to academic and other
small-time projects. Github can keep their hold on "public code repos as
social networking".

~~~
steveklabnik
GitHub offers free private repos for academia.

~~~
drakeandrews
Github offers five, whilst Bitbucket offers what is in essence an unlimited
account to academic users.

------
CyberDroiD
I prefer Twitter over App.net. So far there isn't any reason for me to switch.
I have no complaints, so I have no need for a competing service.

Anyone else out there feel the same way? App.net's environment seems hostile
(like following only up to 40 people), compared to the friendly environment
and user experience with Twitter.

~~~
binarycrusader
No complaints? The sponsored tweets haven't annoyed you yet? The inability to
use some twitter clients because Twitter refuses to give out more licenses
hasn't annoyed you yet?

I use Twitter a lot, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't jump at the first chance
of a real alternative.

~~~
jmathai
I haven't found the sponsored tweets annoying at all. I mostly don't even
notice them. I scan my feed and I only pay attention to the tweets which
interest me. Everything else could be an ad as far as I'm concerned.

The number of sponsored ads don't seem high enough to make me feel like it's
annoying.

As for Twitter clients. Eh, not sure I care so much. I just need a decent
client which doesn't suck.

I think their recent decision sort of suck but as a user I don't know that I
care too much.

~~~
mehrzad
I feel like we as nerds should think in the long term.

Communication should be controlled by the users. Think about all the companies
who were screwed over by Facebook's "Likegate." Decentralization is why I
prefer Tent and IRC. App.net seems acceptable as well because of the open
nature, though it is centralized.

~~~
jmathai
How's it open? People keep saying that but there's nothing open about it
except the creators keep saying it's open.

------
wildfeuer
Would anyone be able to spare an invite?

kwildfeuer@me.com

------
Yeri
I'd love an invite as well (yeri@tiete.be).

Cheers.

------
lux
Would love an invite :) john dot luxford at gmail

~~~
bluetidepro
sent

~~~
lux
Thanks!

------
jlongster
I have 3 invites. First people to answer these questions correctly gets one
(only answer one question):

* What is the integral of "x + 2"?

* How would you implement coroutines with continuations? (Just a very brief description is fine) (edit, if nobody answers this in a few min I'll just invite people)

* What is memoization?

~~~
PizzaManBear
memoization, basically remember the results of methods that have a particular
parameter values. so it does not actually execute the method it retrieves the
remembered value

~~~
georgemcbay
IOW, memoization is a pretentious way of saying result caching.

