Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#41

Post by achompas » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:08 PM UTC

bbgm wrote: post #30

mattmanser wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you'd be losing some very good customers if you removed the free app. He's presented empirical evidence that he's not losing any, the exact opposite happens, he gains customers by not having a free app. You've presented your gut feeling. There might be something behind the 'critical mass' argument that some are saying, but that's impossible to test. Yours seems very wooly though.

That critical mass was likely there from Instapaper the web app. I went straight to paid since I was a fan of the service. I suspect there were many others

Instapaper fan here. Used the web app like crazy, wanted to support Marco so I bought the $5 app. No regrets.

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#42

Post by r00fus » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:10 PM UTC

rkudeshi wrote: post #31

Perhaps the free app might've converted better if Marco had added an in-app purchase to upgrade to the full version.

Or perhaps not. I've spent hundreds on apps, and have yet to spend a single dollar in IAP.

Horses for courses... it all depends on what type of market your app caters to.

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#43

Post by JonLim » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:12 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #36

I second, third, and fourth the notion about pathological customers. iOS is practically training a generation of them. I'm glad they are far away from me.

Many of my friends own iPhones, and many are flabbergasted when they find out that my phone is not jailbroken nor is it filled with free apps.

I happily pay for quality apps. Why? It's going to cost me anywhere from $1 to $10, and that is honestly chump change for an app that will provide much more in value.

For some reason, if you give away your work for free, all of the cheapskates and losers come out and start insulting the service and/or claiming they didn't get enough support.

What do people expect when they don't pay for a valuable app...?

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#44

Post by goforth » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:13 PM UTC

TetOn wrote: post #15

goforth wrote: post #8

I think Readitlater (and lately Readability) strips down the content much better than Instapaper. Instapaper always has a lot of weird extraneous stuff around the text. The others do not. +1 for them.

In fairness, it's worth noting that Readability app is Instapaper; it's just been repackaged. http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/05/instapaper-readability/

Send a page to Instapaper. Then send to Readability. I guarantee you will like Readability more. Try it.

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#45

Post by prestia » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:15 PM UTC

If it weren't for Apple's pricing restrictions, I would love to see a free version of Instapaper that is "unlocked" to a full-featured version if the linked account is a paid subscriber. (For those that don't know, Instapaper also utilizes a subscription model: http://www.instapaper.com/subscription)

I happily pay the quarterly subscription fee and would love a full-featured application to go along with it. That said, I no longer own an iOS device.

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#46

Post by napierzaza » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:17 PM UTC

I like his arguments since they are logical and backed up with data. But at the same time I never would have bought the app if I didn't use "free" for several weeks and got the idea it was useful.

This is after reading about Instapaper everywhere and hearing from close friends that it's almost the main reason they even have an iPhone (which was probably an overstatement on their part).

Edit: Can we please stop the tired argument of "you paid 600$+ for the device, what difference is 5.00$..."?

It's like people who pay 6000$ for a HDTV don't mind paying 100$ for the HDMI cable. Some people do indeed do that, but I for one determine the value of an app or accessory based on the sunken costs of the device. I value a HDMI cable's value at about 5-10$ because that is the cost of a quality one from Monoprice.

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#47

Post by goforth » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:17 PM UTC

TetOn wrote: post #15

goforth wrote: post #8

I think Readitlater (and lately Readability) strips down the content much better than Instapaper. Instapaper always has a lot of weird extraneous stuff around the text. The others do not. +1 for them.

In fairness, it's worth noting that Readability app is Instapaper; it's just been repackaged. http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/05/instapaper-readability/

Not true. Read it again -- the partnership is different. Readability was stripping away stuff long before it's partnership with Instapaper, and Safari incorporated it long before said partnership.

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#48

Post by goforth » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:20 PM UTC

TetOn wrote: post #15

goforth wrote: post #8

I think Readitlater (and lately Readability) strips down the content much better than Instapaper. Instapaper always has a lot of weird extraneous stuff around the text. The others do not. +1 for them.

In fairness, it's worth noting that Readability app is Instapaper; it's just been repackaged. http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/05/instapaper-readability/

https://www.readability.com/about

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#49

Post by alexmuller » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:22 PM UTC

JonLim wrote: post #43

patio11 wrote: post #36

I second, third, and fourth the notion about pathological customers. iOS is practically training a generation of them. I'm glad they are far away from me.

Many of my friends own iPhones, and many are flabbergasted when they find out that my phone is not jailbroken nor is it filled with free apps. I happily pay for quality apps. Why? It's going to cost me anywhere from $1 to $10, and that is honestly chump change for an app that will provide much more in value. For some reason, if you give away your work for free, all of the cheapskates and losers come out and start ins…

> if you give away your work for free, all of the cheapskates and losers come out and start insulting the service

This is exactly what Spotify experienced when they announced they were going from free -> not so free.

http://www.spotify.com/uk/blog/archives/2011/04/14/upcoming-...

Re: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation

#50

Post by thibaut_barrere » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:23 PM UTC

JonLim wrote: post #43

patio11 wrote: post #36

I second, third, and fourth the notion about pathological customers. iOS is practically training a generation of them. I'm glad they are far away from me.

Many of my friends own iPhones, and many are flabbergasted when they find out that my phone is not jailbroken nor is it filled with free apps. I happily pay for quality apps. Why? It's going to cost me anywhere from $1 to $10, and that is honestly chump change for an app that will provide much more in value. For some reason, if you give away your work for free, all of the cheapskates and losers come out and start ins…

Another data point: here only one friend has a jailbroken iphone. The other ones don't even know what it means :)

But otherwise I do agree with all you wrote!