
37signals Draft for iPad: Simple sketching and sharing - javery
http://37signals.com/draft
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joubert
$10?

Adobe Ideas is free.
<http://blogs.adobe.com/designandweb/2010/04/adobe_ideas.html>

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joshkaufman
I really don't get the backlash about the price. If a customer uses 37signals
services and gets a ton of value from the app, how is $9.99 unreasonable?

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qwzybug
Sure, that's true as far as it goes, but it gets a little strained when you
see the similarly-priced competition. Pricing isn't a function of absolute
utility and value, it's also a function of economic environment.

Take Apple display adapter dongles. Do I get a ton of use out of them? Do they
make my MacBook better? Sure, but $30 is still a cruel fucking joke.

My wine key feels great in my hand, never breaks, and has given me loads of
value and joy over the last decade but I would still be a fool to pay more
than $5 for it.

I've carried a plastic Japanese fan in my bag for more than ten years that has
saved my sweaty ass in many social circumstances, and is indispensable for my
personal well-being between July and September; it's covered in ads and I got
it for zero yen and I wouldn't have paid much more than that for it.

All that said, the correct price of a thing is whatever people will pay for
it, and 37signals has certainly demonstrated an uncanny ability to find their
market.

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DougBTX
Sure, but $9.99 still isn't expensive.

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qwzybug
That's the thing, though, it really depends. $9.99 is a good price for a
display adapter, a pretty spendy price for a wine key, and an absoludicrous
price for a crappy Japanese hand fan. Among iPad apps, $9.99 is top-shelf.

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loewenskind
>Among iPad apps, $9.99 is top-shelf.

You think that because that's what the fine Apple iWork apps cost, but keep in
mind that they normally sell that as a package, and now each application costs
$9.99. So the total price for many people will actually be $29.97, 38% of the
cost of the Mac OSX version.

Now that the "iFart" craze is over, expect to start seeing more specialized
apps selling at higher prices. "Things" is already about $20 and they are a
top grossing app.

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runjake
I'll just stick with the free Adobe Ideas for the iPad. It has some sharing
functionality (email), and you can pinch to zoom & draw, different brush
sizes, different brush colors, different opacities, etc.

[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-ideas-1-0-for-
ipad/id36...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-ideas-1-0-for-
ipad/id364617858?mt=8)

PS: It's _free_

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rbreve
according to 37signals less is more, but that doesn't apply to the price

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davidw
I should add this to <http://www.73primenumbers.com> somehow...

Oh wait, the Trailer Park _already_ has this functionality!
<http://73primenumbers.com/trailerpark.html>

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douglasputnam
More power to 37Signals for having the good sense to set their own price and
value for their own product. There's nothing controversial about asking $9.99
for a simple app that you can master in 5 minutes and use to sync your ideas
with your team. Pricing Draft at $9.99 is no more controversial than charging
$4.25 for a soy grean tea latte (a one-time use product, at that), $829 for a
64GB iPad, $2,200 for a 2-year Verizon Android contract, $51k for a Porsche
Cayman, or $450 million to launch the Space Shuttle...

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse
and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that
person's lawful prey." -- John Ruskin (found on a poster in my local Baskin-
Robbins ice cream shop)

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blizkreeg
Price and all the issues aside, these guys are simply amazing. They've tied it
in with their Campfire product which is kind of a double whammy now. If you
like Draft, you might actually end up becoming a paying customer for Campfire,
whether you truly need it or not!

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aymeric
It serves a very small niche: Designers / who have an ipad / who do drafting
on a iPad / who use CampFire.

I don't understand why 37Signals would release such an application except for
riding the iPad frenzy and testing the water.

Something I would have been impressed with is if they added the possibility to
add user interactions in the draft. When I click on this drawn red button, it
goes on the next screen, etc...

(Sometimes, 37Signals is a bit too extreme with Simplicity (Draft / TadaList))

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dhh
Here's why: We needed it for ourselves and we thought others might find it
useful.

That, btw, is the same motivation we've had to release every single piece of
software we've ever done.

Also, tadalist is the #1 google result for "todo list". It's an incredibly
loved product that has a huge user base. For tons of people that's exactly
what they need. Just like Draft was exactly what we needed.

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BrandonWatson
I'm confused...people here are hating on the price? If you don't like the
price, don't buy it.

Free markets are pretty efficient, and pricing anamolies have a tough time
persisting. DHH and crew are not perpetrating a crime on society with this
price. They are not withholding a public good which cannot be obtained from
anyone but them. They built something, and want to try and sell it for a price
they set to customers they hope to win. Welcome to capitalism.

The point is - and this is especially true with software these days - there's
always an option priced above free which causes someone to say "really?" But
if you derive value from it, then you will pay. If not, you won't.

There's likely better ways to spend our IQ units than hating on the price of
an app.

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albemuth
Sometimes they really go out of their way to actually emphasize the lack of
features, as in "It only comes in black", sort of like giving you the finger.
Then there will be a a blog post or two about how it helped them focus on the
experience and integration and what not and how Apple like they are. Then
another one on how creative users had to be to work around the limitations.
Fast forward a couple months and then:"Draft! Now with colors!"

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mchristoff
2 colors... Are you kidding me? Are more than 2 colors really too complex for
our small brains? This app is lazy passed off as "simple".

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faramarz
I love the simplicity of this. A breath of fresh air!

I don't have an iPad, but I would buy it. Though, for $9.99 I wonder how many
people would still purchase this app if it wasn't by 37signals.

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mattmillr
Considering a primary feature is uploading to 37signals' Campfire, not many?

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naner
I'm not going to buy this thing but I don't get why people are so upset over
the price. They can charge $100 if they want, you are owed nothing.

And they'll sell a bunch at $10 anyways.

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johns
Campfire has an API, why not build Draft with Colors that still integrates
with Campfire (and other services)?

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ezmobius
$9.99 is an order of magnitude too much for this app period

