Why We Agonize Over Buying $1 Apps 523
theodp writes "When it comes to explaining decision making and behavioral economics, Dan Ariely is the man. In his latest blog post, Ariely tackles the irrationality of app buying, explaining why the thought of paying even $1 for an app turns into an agonizing decision for those perfectly willing to spend $4 on coffee, or $500 on devices that they arguably don't really need. Had Apple created a really low minimum price for apps — say $0.15 — instead of offering free apps on day one, Ariely suggests, we would be anchored to the idea that apps should cost something. 'Then paying more (maybe even $2) for an app would be a simpler step,' he concludes, 'maybe one that we could take as easily as paying $4 for a latte.'"
Would you pay a $1 for shit? (Score:5, Interesting)
I think what it really comes down too is that people have a feeling that software being sold at $1 might as well be free. Deep down they know their own time is worth more than that, so why would they even give a dollar for what should be free?
OTOH, software that has good features, seemingly good support, and solves a problem they have being sold at $20 actually seems like a more reasonable proposition.
The only exception being tiny games. Although I think even Angry Birds was more than $1. I wouldn't know, I purchased it for the PC. That game is damn addictive.
he doesnt describe me. (Score:4, Interesting)
In the year in which i own the galaxy tab i spend more for buying software than in the ten years before. If an app does what i want and it costs $1 then i buy it. the price has an eception ally low priority in my buying decisions.
For andorid these are
a) Does the app require unreasonable rights without explaining?
b) has the app a clearly decribed concept what is does and what it doesnt?
c) does the app behave reasonably in the refundable period?
d) Are the many users with really strange problems.
If all poitns above are right, and the app is not trivial, i will pay $10 without thinking
People don't understand technology (Score:5, Interesting)
I think it's much simpler than that. People don't understand what software does and really see no difference between the device and the programs that run on it. From that point of view, when you buy an app you are paying for something that's "already there", since it was a device that ran apps before and it's a device that runs apps now. The only change is the new app, which is not a tangible thing, but a behaviour. Paying for behaviour seems kinda like paying someone to teach your dog a new trick, and that's just plain silly.
Well what do they do (Score:5, Interesting)
Top of the line office software, IE only Microsoft Office
Top of the line AAA games, IE Skyrim
Other then that... corporate users need security software, and gullible home users will also buy it (reason I say gullible is primarily because there are few to no features or increased reliability of free vs paid antivirus's that I've seen). Had nothing to do with how the tablet market was set on launch day, the phones were based on the market of software, and in the end phones and tablets do not currently support much in the way of software that people aren't used to having for free.
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:5, Interesting)
You're mixing economics with idealism. Everyone likes the idea of free software, and most people rely on it even if they don't realize that's the case. But due to the way people's brains are typically wired, having a baseline of >0 is advantageous for the seller. For example, if there were two apps, one free and one $2.00, the free one will have massively more downloads even if the paid one is significantly better. But change the pricing to $0.99 and $2.99 and "better" will tend to win out (well, the ratio will be a lot more in line with what you'd expect given the quality of what's being purchased, even if it's not actually making more sales) over "free", despite the same $2.00 spread between the products.
As it turns out, people that don't want to pay for stuff tend to be lousy customers. So I don't feel bad if I don't gain a customer who thinks that my product is overpriced. If you think I'm not adding enough value for what I charge - that's fine, you're welcome to not use what I'm making (free market, etc). Other people are happy to pay, and they also tend to focus on the reasons my stuff is improving their lives rather than searching for flaws that would justify me offering a discount. I'm happy, my customers are happy, and my non-customers are no more or less whiny than they would be without me.
As you might have guessed, I don't believe that all software should be free just because. I feel it's perfectly reasonable to ask for compensation if you're providing value, even if that value is in the form of carefully-arranged ones and zeroes. I would prefer that more software is Free (as in speech) if only to encourage interoperability, but that's a completely separate and mostly unrelated discussion. Anything that I create for free (which may or may not also be Free; generally it is) is strictly unsupported - it needs to fulfill my needs alone, and if you don't have to duplicate my efforts, then have at it! But as a general rule, I don't take feature requests on anything for which I'm not charging. I just don't have the time or energy.
I cannot obtain coffee for free. (Score:5, Interesting)
You know, I used to think that if media had a decent price, that I would actually purchase more games.
More and more lately I'm coming to realise that I wouldn't buy most things at any price.
Why would I spend £10 on a DVD, when I can save that £10 towards a new car or a mortgage deposit?
Why would I spend £10 on a book or £1 on a newspaper, when £90 (9 books) buys me an e-reader which will give me free books until the thing breaks?
Why would I spend £anything on games, when I can simply play older ones?
When I was a schoolchild, money existed to be frittered away on the next shiny.
Now I'm (only a few years) older, I can see that in order to live any semblance of a decent life, I'm going to have to save, and save HARD.
Why should I feel sorry for artists? Are they in a worse position than me? In the vast majority of cases I would doubt it.
With regards to expensive coffee - I don't buy it, but I do buy coffee when I'm out, occasionally. Why? Because it is more convenient than making coffee at home, and I can get it instantly as opposed to waiting. Buying 'apps' generally works in reverse.
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:2, Interesting)
Do you work for free? If not, you're a hypocrite.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:5, Interesting)
2. Your analogy ignores that free options exist. Should I pay for water if there is a man handing out free water a block down? I doubt you would. This article says we should arrest the man down the street in order to protect the water industry; that there is something inherently wrong with getting water for free; that we should always expect to pay for something. I disagree with that and as I said, Linux proves it doesn't have to work that way.
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:5, Interesting)
So on what precise basis are you entitled to earn a living developing software? This isn't really that different from photography these days where there are so many highly qualified amateurs giving away their work that there's very few people that are able to make a living out of it, compared with in the past.
I'm not sure why we necessarily need a lot of people to be professionals when the volunteers are producing such quality work.
The cost is primarily in producing that first copy, all the others are basically free to create, support costs money, but people often times help each other out on the basis of karma and it tends to work well in most cases.
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is spot on!
And this is why I "pirate" apps. But before you judge, I can make two statements with total honesty:
1) I have ZERO pirated apps on any of my devices. ALL paid apps I have, have been purchased paid for.
2) Every last app on my mobile devices has been "pirated" for 5-10 minutes.
Every last one (Excluding built-in and free apps of course)
My purchasing process goes like this:
1) Is there a free version? If so, get that and try it, then jump to step 5
2) No free trial/demo? Then I fire up installious and find the app in question.
3) App not in warez form yet? Then stop - This app is no longer an option.
4) Try warez version for 5-10 minutes or so, hitting 'deny all for session' in firewall, and then delete the app.
5a) Did I like the app? If so, I return to the app store and purchase it.
5b) Did I hate the app? It's already long deleted, so we are basically done here.
The developers that DO provide a demo/trial version, you guys rock. Makes it very easy to decide if your app is for me and buy it, with 2/5ths the steps and much less time involved.
The developers that don't, well, deal with it. If I can't demo it somehow, you are guaranteed to have lost a sale, and if I happen to have placed your company name in my memory, you have potentially lost all sales to me.
I've easily spent over $500 on the apple store, and $200 on the Cydia store, in apps alone over both of my devices. It isn't worth it to me to fuck around with managing pirated apps in the long term, and have no interest in that.
The first app I was ripped off from was a silly $1 game. It literally would not run on either of my devices. I was pissed but since it was only a dollar I let it slide.
The second app however was a $10 development tool that was literally NOTHING like the description.
BTW, the scam app was: App Designer HD, v1.2, Seller: Nate Chiger
I see he lowered it from $10 to $1, no doubt trying to rip off even more people than before.
If you read the description, that is not anything close to what the app really does.
You get ONE of each GUI widget type, and can move the icon around on the screen like they were cutout on paper.
Want two buttons or two switches on your screen? Too bad.
In fact it would be easier and have MORE features to just use pen and paper instead of this piece of crap app.
The developer nor Apple would refund the price. Ever since that day I won't even consider an app I can't try first, one way or the other.
I ended up trying two different apps that filled this roll.
iMockups [endloop.ca] (Also $10 but AWESOME) for doing GUI layout and design,
and Codea [twolivesleft.com] ($8) for rapid prototyping (In Lua no less.)
Both "pirated" for 10ish minutes each, and immediately purchased after deleting the warez copy.
I have no problems paying for software. I do have problems getting ripped off.
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:4, Interesting)
Movie previews don't deceive.
They don't? Trailers that show all the big stunts in 15 seconds and the walk-on cameo by a star as if he was a featured actor; actresses that start to disrobe... out of context lines from reviews ...etc., etc.
Re:SHOULD "Apps" Cost Something? (Score:4, Interesting)
>That's it in a nutshell. Nothing feels worse than being out $1, AND knowing that you were the dope that pulled the trigger on the wrong thing.
OMG, who give a ****?! I never agonized over an app purchase in my life. In fact, to me it's software that's as cheap (outside of Linux/OSS) as it's ever been and happens to be in a more usable package. I don't even know where to find the people who would, and I don't think I want them in my life as they probably think software engineers should work for free. It's not a damn bazaar, you can either look at the reviews online or on the reviews on the internet about most somewhat mainstream apps.
I mean, in most cases it's a buck!!! In the 90s, I could return $60+ video games. If I go to the supermarket and buy anything, bread, a candybar, etc, taste it, don't like it, guess what? I can't return it (with any ease) and in most cases it's over a buck. Nor at a restaurant without getting in a huff.
Can I return songs on iTunes? What?! No?! Damn, does this whole story and thread reads like a 1st world problems meme. Hell, I have 7 screens of app, deleted some I don't particularly care for but weren't worth my time bitching about. $0.99 cents? I can find that on the ground on the street.
There are plenty of try before you buy apps too, having the old "lite version". In fact, the whole thing is the old PC industry mentalities, for better or worse, in terms of demos and what not. Nothing new here, Apple's App marketplace isn't going to fail, and it's not flooded with crap, 90% of everything in every media since stone age cave paintings was crap to begin with.
For more great /. stories like this, check out:
http://www.quickmeme.com/First-World-Problems/ [quickmeme.com]