
Wolfram Alpha Miscalculates What Its iPhone App Should Cost - Flemlord
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/18/wolfram-alpha-miscalculates-what-its-iphone-app-should-cost/
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scythe
Of course, their graphing calculator comparison neglects the fact that
graphing calculators are only priced so high because they have a captive
audience, like college textbooks. You can't effectively compete with TI for
graphing calculators because school districts outlaw competition.

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parse_tree
With the exception of solving integrals, diff eqs, or other CAS things, is
Wolfram Alpha particularly useful when you'd have google at your disposal? I
would think no, but that's just my experience.

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omouse
Google is a search engine, Wolfram Alpha is a computation engine.

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dantheman
But how often do people actually compute? The majority of all computer use is
for information retrieval/display. If wolfram alpha had a spreadsheet
interface then maybe people would use it, but once again right now there isn't
that much that people compute.

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blasdel
Wolfram continues to surprise me with the depth of his delusions.

$50 for an unfeatured 'native' interface to a free web app?

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tptacek
That last sentence is misleading. The web app that they're interfacing is only
free because they made the mistake of making it free. If this iPhone app was
the only available interface to Alpha, and they hadn't blown their marketing
wad on a huge marketing launch for the free web version, $50 wouldn't seem
nearly as "unreasonable" as it does now.

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10ren
Maybe it could have then been positioned as portable mathematica + cool data
sets.

BTW: I don't get all the contempt for Wolfram. He's accomplished more than
most (all?) of us. I think he's entitled to as many mistakes and delusions as
it takes in between accomplishments. And we'd all do better if we followed his
example, of optimistic experimenting.

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ovi256
He's the last of many of a long tradition of mathematicians that thought their
mathematical work to be the solution to everything. A bit grandiose in his
claims.

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coderdude
I've read criticisms that he makes it appear as though certain ideas are of
his own creation, but beyond that, I think the guy is quite brilliant. His
work on cellular automata as Turing machines is very intriguing. I think more
people should give him his due.

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Dilpil
Isn't this just a less thinly veiled version of I Am Rich?

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patio11
Does it strike anyone else here as ironic that people with $600 phones that
cost $100 a month with a two-year contractual minimums would look at software
priced more than $5 as conspicuous consumption?

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mountain_man
The phone costs 199 and 75 a month. It is expensive, but why exaggerate?

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allenbrunson
he's not really exaggerating, though. i bought my iphone in the first few days
after release, and i did indeed pay 600 bucks for it. it has come down since
then, but there _are_ those of us who paid that.

i can't remember the exact details, but the cost for the data plan went up
after they introduced 3g support, and dropped the 200 free text messages per
month.

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jgilliam
I think they priced the iphone app high so people will think their free web
version is a bargain and actually worth using. "Hey, I can get it for free on
their website!" Even though they weren't using it at all before.

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biggitybones
This is another example of a company trying to price software like its a
physical product.

The justification for the price is laughable; just because it contains more
features than an unrelated product (for which it is not even a feasible
replacement) is not going to convince someone to pay for an iPhone app 25-50x
the normal going price.

I'm venturing a guess here by saying that a good portion of the market for
graphing calculators is comprised of high school and college students, and I
don't know of one teacher who would allow an iPhone during a calculus or
physics test.

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whatusername
there's a fun point. If the only way to use it is connected to the internet -
how are you going to be allowed to use it in a test/exam scenario?

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dsil
Personally I think more high-school/college tests should be given with the
students using computers & the internet while taking them, since that's how
the world works now. Not all tests by any means, but more than currently. But
until that point, letting some students use their iphones because it's also
their graphing calculator, on a test where most students don't have access to
the internet and their friends and other test takers with iphones, is an
invitation for cheating.

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christonog
I have a feeling this is all a publicity stunt. The hype has pretty much died
down. What better way to get people talking about your Service and your iPhone
app (beside apple rejecting it) than to grossly overprice it (see "I am rich"
app)? At least you get to see if people will actually pay for it and the free
press.

Edit: I'm pretty sure they'll lower the price, which in turn will trigger more
press. Seems to me a good marketing ploy, but how far can you go before you
dilute your brand message?

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eb
Wolfram is not the sort of company the engages in marketing ploys. They've
always charged a hefty amount for their products, from Mathematica to their
crazy prices for API calls. They get away with it because they create niche
products that are usually paid for by the user's employer.

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chrischen
At least for students, a graphing calculator on an iphone won't be much use,
since most teachers probably won't let students whip out an iPhone on a test.

TIs are standardized and profs know what it can and can't do. No professor is
going let students whip out arbitrary applications to aide them on a test,
especially one that can almost solve word problems.

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aaronblohowiak
"No professor is going let students whip out arbitrary applications to aide
them on a test" -- oh the things we used to do with our TI83s...

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chrischen
Actually yes I agree you can put arbitrary applications on TI-83s that can
help you cheat. So let me rephrase:

No professor is going let students whip out _blatantly_ arbitrary applications
to aide them on a test.

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alex_c
_A note on price — it is listed at $49.99, which is basically less than 1/2
the price of a graphing calculator with inferior functionality in comparison,
which is how the company came to that number._

That's a bit disingenuous, considering that the hardware doesn't come free.

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scotty79
Right. Because who could build a successful company selling soft that can do
some math priced at thousands of dollars? Isn't the math free?

People who would buy nice mobile interface for wolfram alpha are not the same
people that buy "paper toss".

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rtrunck
I find it humorous that the Tech Crunch author notes a typo while creating a
few of his own, e.g., by spelling "default" incorrectly. One who notes a typo
should to not to create one of their own, if only to save face.

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brianm
Ah, but Wolfram using "egonomics" _is_ too rich.

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rtrunck
Agreed - it was a great reference.

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chanux
I remember an HN comment about Dr.Wolfram over estimating himself (in a book
preface or something). No wonder that the iPhone app follows.

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teeja
$50 isn't much for professionals who pay hundreds of dollars for reference
manuals ... or are on location in NE Turkey without laptop Mathematica access.

I'm guess W intends an access lite for later.

For decades, most tech products coming on the market start out high-priced (HD
TV's for a recent one). Why should Wolfram look like it's low-balling? They
know you've got a $200+ phone and are paying $1K a year to use it. Mathematica
isn't cheap either: how much will the App cut into sales?

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eb
The iPhone application still requires Internet access. If you seriously needed
to reference Wolfram Alpha for your work, then you would most likely be within
reach of an actual computer. This app is nothing more than a novelty and is
ridiculously priced.

