Theres No Such Thing as a Free Instapaper

I dont need every customer. Im primarily in the business of selling a product for money. How much effort do I really want to devote to satisfying people who are unable or extremely unlikely to pay for anything?

Marco Arment on his decision to discontinue the free versions of Instapaper, his save and read later application. I would say, $4.99 is a fair price for an app that adds so much daily value. More importantly, I admire Marco for taking this stand and doing what is right for his business and more importantly for his paying customers. Of course, his decision goes against the Freemium movement. I wonder if others will follow Arments example.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription reqd):

Join Gamelofts new studio!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sure, I Could Join a Google-Based Social Network But Why?

Image
After much rumor and speculation about a new Google social feature of some kind, the Internet giant finally unveiled what it calls its +1 service today. The service as Om explained in his post on the launch is an attempt to add social validation to search, via Googles version of the Facebook like button. While these kinds of social cues may help improve search, however, the move also appears to be the latest attempt to jump-start some kind of Google-oriented social network, something that seems to have substantially less likelihood of success, at least as its currently configured. Why? Because people dont go to Google to be social. As Om describes in his post, and as Search Engine Land lays out in more detail , the main feature of the +1 system is that it allows users to vote on search results or ads. Their vote is then displayed next to the result for anyone in their Google-based social network. And what is that Google network? Good question. At this point, its people in your Gmail...
Keep reading

White spaces are a go! (at least in Wilmington)

Image
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Ignoring the threats by Congress to kill off white spaces , the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday green-lighted commercial operations of the first networks and devices to tap into the airwave gaps between TV broadcasts , potentially setting off a whole new wave of innovation inunlicensedwireless broadband access akin to that produced by Wi-Fi. The FCC is starting out small with operations limited to Wilmington, N.C., beginning Jan. 26. The commission wants to ensure that there are no interference problems between new white space networks and the wireless microphones that currently access the spectrum at big performance venues. Mics and broadband devices will essentially be sharing the airwaves, so the FCC has set up a database, run by Spectrum Bridge , (see disclosure below), where concert venues or theaters can register their events. Any white spaces devices accessing those airwaves will periodically check in with that database, which would ...
Keep reading

China is on the path to global technology dominance

Image
Be afraid. I have often jested that the main difference between the United States and China is not that one is capitalist and the other communist. Rather, it is that one is run by lawyers and the other by engineers. Nowhere is this truer than in the astonishing “catch-up” occurring on the mainland in the explosion of digital technologies and their application to the daily lives of hundreds of millions of ordinary Chinese consumers. As long as China is governed by engineers, I reckon this breakneck transformation will shock, intimidate and challenge us for decades to come Ask people in the US or Europe about Chinese technology and most will still cast a dismissive smile and say China remains home of the cheap and cheerful copycat stuff that fills Walmart shelves. The dangerous naivity of this view was brought home forcefully at our APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) meetings last year – the first in San Francisco and the second in Shenzhen. The first thing we noticed was tha...
Keep reading