

Apps Shouldn't be Free  - davux
http://bobbyonboard.com/apps-shouldn-t-be-free

======
yonasb
Totally agree, we should all start charging. As a user, I've become
ridiculously cheap. And it's not the price, it's how the ecosystem has
evolved. I'm used to free apps now. We need to get people to be used to paying
for apps. Not easy though, will only work if everyone starts doing it...

------
lucian1900
I find lack of a demo makes me avoid paying for things.

If there's a demo/lite version, I always buy the app if it's something I use
even occasionally.

------
twqqis
I've been thinking the same thing for a while. The simplest argument in favour
would be that people would immediately be much more careful in their
selection. If I have to fork out money, I'm definitely not going to pick the
buggy / low quality / app with dodgy permissions to the system, uses my
location andor other data for ads revenue /etc. It means those apps wont have
an audience and die off, because there's no incentive. And we'll all be better
off...Not?

I'm so sick of all the crap that is out there, I wish I can just pay a fair
amount and get an app that gets close to what I need, is of quality and
without hidden agendas and issues.

Free is a funny thing, people's behaviour and expectations go out of whack.
Even $0.99 is better than free. It's often better than $9.99 also. Free makes
that people expect everything to be free, even quality software.

Quality software is hard to create. You cannot hold it to a developer if he
gave it to you for free; he has no reason to really make it good...If you
haven't actually put out software at a price, then you don't have first-hand
experience of the responsibility it puts on you. The responsibility we need to
create a better (app) world.

And if you want to throw the open-source argument, just remember free and
open-source is not the same thing. If you're confused go read The Free
Software Definition: <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>

I agree with previous comments, there should be atleast a trial period, I need
to be able to figure out if this app will meet my needs.

------
apricot13
I think its fine the way it is. I've paid for some truly awful apps and
regretted it. If I can download an app, get a feel for it, like it, then
upgrade the basic features in it then I'm a happy customer. rather than having
spent $7 on something I'll never use again and be bitter about paying for. (I
can't really be bitter about wasting 69p but that does add up to quite a large
amount after a while!)

------
mirsadm
There's a crappy trend of releasing free games on the basis that you need to
pay for gold/coins/credits to progress. This totally ruins the game for me. I
would rather pay for a full game then the pay-for-progress model. In this case
it isn't even about the money. It just ruins the experience for me because the
game has a built-in cheat. You give money, the game becomes easy and you
complete it.

------
jamesu
As a consumer i prefer buying apps. It gives the developer a better financial
incentive to improve the product, plus i feel great since not only have i
helped someone, i'm also going to get something which USUALLY works better
than something just given away.

------
bookwormAT
Direct payment is not the only way to let customers pay for apps.

I pay for Google search with my permission to show me advertising. That is
also payment, just a different kind.

I do not pay money for my desktop or my mobile operating system. Those are
apps too, and the companies that invest in these systems do so mostly for
commercial reasons. Great apps, but no direct payment.

"How much would you pay for a great news app?"

Depends on demand and supply.

------
galfarragem
Apps market is completely full. There is much more offer than demand/need.
Once "supports" are broken, in this case, when people get used not to pay, to
make them pay again, something must change (offer, demand, rules). I'm an
architect (real architect , not IT) and in this market it happens the same,
people are not paying anymore for ideas, they only pay for project drawings.
The competition (offer) is too high, if you don't do it somebody will.

------
yjukaku
This would be great, but would never work. Unless you are working on some
incredibly small niche OR your app is miles and miles ahead of the
competition, people will gladly (read: stupidly) download a worse app for free
rather than pay a small amount.

Also, this would be collusion at some level, woudn't it? :)

