
Instapaper Finally Makes Its Android Debut, And It’s Almost Amazing - speg
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/04/instapaper-finally-makes-its-android-debut-and-its-almost-amazing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
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CrazedGeek
Meh. Pocket (née Read It Later) pretty much already filled Instapaper's uses
for me, and it's free. Too little too late, IMHO.

~~~
huggyface
This is likely true: there are a number of Instapaper similes that are
available now, many gratis (if your time/screen space are free, though that is
a different conversation).

I hope that we don't see a "this confirms all my suspicions about Android"
type of post in the coming months. The market is nothing like it was when
Instapaper first hit it big on iOS (during a period where some of the biggest
yielding apps were "Where's my car" and flashlight type products).

~~~
mtgx
This was Marco and other iOS developers' mistake. If they wait too long to
come to Android, there will be established competitors on the platform, and
instead of being considered a market leader, they might even have to play
catch-up with those already established on Android.

This is the same reason why even Microsoft has decided to make Office for iOS
and Android. They can't just ignore 700 million users (and soon to be much
bigger) just because they'd want people to use Windows instead. Windows is a
big cash cow for Microsoft, but so is Office (about as big in revenue), and
they can't risk losing the Office market to others, and not getting to decide
the future format for docs, and other benefits they now get from being the
absolute Office leader.

~~~
pflats
>This was Marco and other iOS developers' mistake.

How so? Instapaper is literally one developer; isn't it better to be a market
leader on one platform than to spread yourself across two platforms and dilute
both applications?

It sounds like once the right team approached him (one that he trusted the
quality and business ethics of, and he knew their work) he cut a deal for an
Android version.

To me, that seems like an optimal use of limited resources.

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ajross
The guess here: [http://www.quora.com/Instapaper/How-much-money-does-
Instapap...](http://www.quora.com/Instapaper/How-much-money-does-Instapaper-
make)

Is that Instapaper nets somewhere in the $1-2M range. I'd hardly call that
"limited resources." The ability to staff up and/or outsource work effectively
is an important skill for a business. You don't get a do-over just because you
want to do all the work yourself.

~~~
lostlogin
That source says that that money is over the apps lifetime. So divide that by
4 (?) and its starting to become more limited. EDIT to include the quote (the
low end of the scale starts to make things quite tight by my guestimating):

>>> TL;DR: Final estimate is somewhere between 0.15% to 0.60% of the iOS
market, netting it somewhere between $875k to $2.3m for the duration of its
existence (not yearly)<<<

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ph33r
After reading through several comments it's clear that Marco took way to long
to release this, and users have found alternatives. I use Evernote. Many
people prefer Pocket apparently.

The real shame is that a week from now Marco (a well known Android basher) is
going have a blog post up with poor download stats. Deflect the blame, and
proceed to explain how he was right all along... that it was not worth the
money to have the app created, that Android users don't want to pay for
quality apps, it's fragmented, blah blah blah.

~~~
lostlogin
So given that he didn't release Instapaper early on Android, what should he
have done? Stayed away? Given he wasnt on the platform, is not going to it all
a better move or not?

~~~
esmevane
I think the tone I'm picking up on is that he should do this: Not make a post
complaining about poor Android sales.

There is no "should have done" past-tense about what these people are saying.

It's good that he released the application and I'm sure many people hope it
does well, but several have clearly indicated that they believe it's now too
late to blame poor sales on anything if not his own hesitancy.

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baconner
Has Marco commented on this at all? Dont see anything searching a bit... Given
his former comments stating basically that he didn't think it was worth doing
this is surprising.

~~~
achompas
He addressed it in today's Build & Analyze *(a podcast on 5by5 that he co-
hosts with Dan Benjamin):

<http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze/80>

Very excited to hear his thoughts.

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toonse
Too late for me...I used instapaper religiously but due to not nice Android
client I tried Pocket last month. Switched everything to it.

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gulbrandr
related: <http://www.marco.org/2011/12/07/standing-up-for-android>

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speg
Instagram, Flipboard, Instapaper. Who's next?

