I actually agree with you. Just like many products or services from almost every market, social perception of any company has a definite effect on the success of the company. This influence is slower than immediate price effects, but it is measurable. Bad perceptions about companies tend to stick much more strongly than good perceptions. Marketing calls this branding a company or product. When a company has developed certain reputations, this social stigma can make it much more difficult for the company's new products / services to be accepted, and the company tends to be viewed with much more cynicism.
The developer of The Seeing Eye GPS is dealing with the mixed perceptions of, expertese in their market niche on the positive, verses charging over the top as their negative. TapTapSee, on the other hand, is dealing with a completely different situation. Because they offered their product for free for over a year, and it is premium quality, their market developed a charity perception of the company. Therefore, switching to a fee-for-service model is giving them the same perception of attempting to gouge their market, because charities that charge are being greedy companies in our capitalistic social model of society. They could have handled their necessary transition to a fee-for-service model in a much more effective manner had they understood that they were being perceived as a charity by their customers. Unfortunately, it appears that they only looked at the business side of things, figured out how much they would need to charge to keep the service going, and implemented the changes. Those of us who are trained in sociology and psychology related disciplines are usually not cross-trained in business, or the other way around, so these situations tend to amplify, especially for small developers. David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: [email protected] Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone > On 11 Nov 2013, at 12:31, Christopher Chaltain <[email protected]> wrote: > > I think this is all good and interesting data, and I respect the makers of > Tap Tap See for being so open, but this is way more information than I have > when I buy a main stream product. Usually I compare prices and decide whether > to buy a particular product based on whether I think it's worth it to me or > not and whether I think I'm getting the best deal I can. I have no idea how > much it costs Apple to manufacture an iPhone, although given how wealthy > Apple is, I assume they get a pretty good markup on their products. I don't > research their manufacturing costs or accuse them of price gouging. I think > manufacturers of blindness related products have a right to set a price for > their product or service, and can even stand to make a profit without > engaging in price gouging. I also think blind customers can choose to pass on > a product or a service without being free loaders. > > I realize the blindness community is a bit different though. The market is > much smaller. There are fewer products to choose from and many of the > products are developed with grants, so this kind of openness and discussion > is good, but let's not forget that we're having this discussion in a > capitalist economy. > >> On 11/10/2013 03:44 PM, David Chittenden wrote: >> There are two differences between this app and the Seeing Eye app. >> >> First, this app has more substantial ongoing costs per image. The developer >> needs to pay someone every time an image is identified. If they are using >> the source I learned of a couple years ago, their cost is somewhere between >> 1.5 and 3.5 cents per image. However, no matter what the source, they are >> paying, have paid this entire time, and donated their services as a charity >> to the blind users. They expected certain usage, and were caught out by the >> very high demand for which their budget did not count on. >> >> The Seeing Eye app's development, on the other hand, was funded by the >> Seeing Eye. The company pays an annual subscription to access the internet >> map database which they use. Most of their POI sources are free. Therefore, >> they are earning a high premium for their service, which does not provide >> much more than the standard GPS navigation app. Their audio description >> algorithm is a one-time, fairly high developmental cost, but is most likely >> not as significant of an ongoing cost. >> >> Second, and illustrated by the above, TapTapSee generated good will amongst >> the community by providing their service for free, at obvious ongoing cost >> to them, without making this fact well-known. I only learned how much it was >> costing them at the beginning of last year because I found their KickStarter >> campaign where they published the fact, to the funding development >> community, as part of the reason they were seeking funding support for >> development costs for what was going to be a free app. >> >> The developer of The Seeing Eye App, on the other hand, used to charge $1500 >> for its specialised GPS navigation apps and programs, with annual update >> fees that cost a couple hundred dollars. When they put out their LookAround >> app, they charged three times what other apps of its type do, and provided >> significantly less information in many areas, but they capitalised on the >> fact that they develop specialised GPS apps to help the blind. As I recall, >> this was in their App Store description. After much fan-fair touting the >> fact that The Seeing Eye was significantly funding their development costs, >> they put The Seeing Eye app out for a higher cost than any of the apps which >> place maps locally on the iPhone, for an app that requires using >> internet-based maps. Considering that these maps are provided free or very >> low cost by other companies, The Seeing Eye developer is banking on their >> name in the specialised field to charge as much as they can get away with >> (perception of gouging the market). >> >> I personally do not believe the Seeing Eye is gouging the market that much, >> though I do believe their prices are significantly more than necessary for >> them to remain viable. However, I do not perceive their add-on algorithms as >> significant enough of a difference above the standard accessible GPS >> navigation app. I know this is partially do to the sour taste left in my >> mouth from the LookAround experience. >> >> David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA >> Email: [email protected] >> Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On 11 Nov 2013, at 2:35, "Peter Logan" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> It saddens me that the developers have decided to move to what I consider >>> to be price gouging, just my opinion. It also amazes me that this >>> community doesn’t seem to mind this time. However, wen the Seeing Eye GPS >>> came out with their model many on this list were outraged. >>> >>> Am I in no way asking for something to be free, however if you are a heavy >>> user of the product and go with the monthly subscription, you will be >>> paying $120/year, as far as I know that would be the highest price of any >>> blindness specific app. I would have rather they just go with a $4.99 or >>> even $6.99 price for the app and call it good. My most used app, MLB At >>> Bat only cost $19.99/year and I use that multiple times every day. I would >>> have rather seen a yearly subscription in that range. >>> >>> Hopefully they will reconsider the pricing model in the future. It is an >>> awesome product, however I believe it could be priced better. >>> >>> Thanks for listening. >>> >>> >>> Peter >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" >>> Google Group. >>> >>> Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing [email protected]. >>> >>> Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. >>> >>> Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing >>> [email protected]. >>> >>> Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing >>> [email protected]. >>> >>> More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting >>> http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "VIPhone" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" >> Google Group. >> >> Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing [email protected]. >> >> Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. >> >> Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing >> [email protected]. >> >> Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing >> [email protected]. >> >> More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting >> http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "VIPhone" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > Christopher (CJ) > chaltain at Gmail > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > > Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing [email protected]. > > Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > > Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing > [email protected]. > > Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing > [email protected]. > > More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing [email protected]. Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing [email protected]. Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing [email protected]. More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
