I haven’t been a member on MobileRead for long (and haven’t even introduced myself yet, so hi everyone?) but I love reading and Marvin (along with Calibre now that I’ve started using it) is pretty much the Holy Grail of e-reader apps as far as I’m concerned, which is why I was (and still am) pretty much over the freaking moon when I heard of the news of Marvin 3.0.
And before I jump into the money discussion, I just want to say this, I just want to congratulate anyone involved in developing Marvin (whether the current version or the upcoming one) and thank them for the truly upstanding work. I have been using it since 2014 and it’s probably my favorite app. If I had to get rid of everything on my iPad but one app? The one I’d keep would be Marvin, no contest. The fact that it is one of the 5 apps in my iPad dock at the bottom of the screen—and the one in the center at that—is probably telling enough on its own, but I thought the Marvin developer(s) might like to know how much their baby is appreciated.
Now, for the heavy stuff, on the whole paying for apps "debate"... I don’t necessarily think someone being against (or reluctant to adhere to) a subscription model can be easily simplified as “people want free stuff and don’t want to pay for things developers worked hard for”, not at all. I mean, I can’t talk for everyone, obviously, so maybe some do feel that way. But I think we’re also just not thinking about the people who
are indeed willing to pay, but just don’t like subscriptions.
I, for one, paid for the full version of Marvin 2 (and treated myself to the color themes as well) after like a few hours of using the free version, and I never regretted it. It’s probably the app I use the most and, though I don’t even remember how much I paid for it at the time, I definitely remember thinking I would have been willing to pay more for it because it was awesome. And after using it for months and months and months, I can safely say I was right to think that way. On the other hand, would I have bought it if it had been a subscription model? Probably not. Actually, definitely not. I would have been bummed about the whole thing and maybe even pissed at myself for it because after finding the perfect reading app for me, not having it would have sucked, but there you have it. I just would have missed out on the most awesome app ever, and not have even known it and a lot of other people probably would have as well.
And it’s not because I wouldn’t be willing to pay for it—again if I’d had to pay 50 bucks (or even more, let’s be honest, that’s how much I love this app), I would have and I would have been smiling while I did it, and if a year later, there had been a new version out (as I understand the Apple Store doesn’t allow for paying for upgrades) and I had to pay again for the new version? I would have done it gladly as well. And some people, probably think that’s silly, being willing to fork out 50 bucks or more and maybe another 50 or more the following year when I could maybe just be paying 2 bucks (or whatever the price) a month for the time I’m using it...
but. But, I just don’t like subscriptions, that’s it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtle91
You didn't understand my point.
I'm an avid supporter of Marvin...but no, I don't like subscriptions for software. I would gladly pay $50 for Marvin 3....and another $50 for Marvin 3.1...but I don't want to lose my ability to use a software I paid for...
I need to control my own cash flow. If a higher priority expense comes along, I need to be able to prioritize my payments without the threat of losing the use of my software.
|
For one thing, Turtle91 said it well in their posts, for things like this (apps, softwares and such), I much prefer buying to
renting, and I prefer paying a much higher price once and then know that if for one reason or another I’m having money troubles for a few months, I won’t have to worry about a ton of subscriptions that I have to cancel and then spend those months not being able to use said app or software. That would suck.
And another thing that probably only touches me because I seem to be the only person I know who doesn’t have one, but, the thing is I don’t use credit cards. Rectification: I don’t even
have a credit card anymore because I just don’t manage my money well with them and so for a couple years now, I’ve been credit card free (and what do you know, I don’t wonder where my money went at the end of the month and I can actually save some, but that’s beside the point) and so, apart from regular monthly things (like rent and insurance and utilities and stuff) that are directly taken from my bank account, all the other stuff I need to buy during the month, I do it by going to my bank directly at the start of the month and withdrawing my money there in person, so I always know exactly how much I’m spending. (It can be annoying sometimes but it works for me.) But what this means is that for everything that I have to pay on the Internet, I’m stuck because I don’t have a credit card (which is also one reason I don’t have one anymore), so when I really need to, I use the credit card of a close relative (usually one of my siblings or parents) and give them the cash and there’s no problem. And that’s not too annoying because I don’t buy that many things virtually, so I usually end up having to do that just a few times a year, but it would be just inconvenient for me if I had monthly subscriptions on someone else’s card instead of the occasional purchases, not to mention that my siblings/parents would probably just tell me flat-out no for that, I wouldn’t blame them, my no-credit card thing is most likely already annoying enough for them. So, yeah, that probably only affects me (and like 2 or 3 other weirdos like me maybe) but subscriptions are just not a convenient option for me at all.
ETA: Um, I just realized that for the App Store at least, I could use iTunes gift cards, that would probably be easier than using someone else's card as proxy. My others points haven't changed though, and gift card or not, one-time fees are still a lot more convenient for me than subscriptions.
And last but not least, I also think there are those (like me) who also don’t like subscription models for the simple fact that it makes them feel like some kind of never-ending cash flow. How can I explain it? Um. Ah, it’s a little like game apps on the App Store, for example. I, personally, much rather pay 40-50 bucks for a game on my 3DS and be done with it and able to enjoy it at will than pay nothing (or a measly 4 bucks, for instance) for a game on the App Store but then not be able to pretty much do anything or advance in the game or play more than 15 minutes at a time on said game unless I continuously pay up using the game currency via in-app purchases. But maybe that’s just me, I’m just giving my two cents here.
P.S: And with the freaking awesome features I’ve seen being announced? You should definitely make people pay accordingly for the hard work it took, no questions.
P.P.S: Um, just adding my thoughts here but, contrary to some comments I’ve seen on the matter, I’m of the opinion that the banner in the free version of Marvin 3 should definitely be annoying, because otherwise, unfortunately, the people who aren’t hardcore users/fans of Marvin like me and a lot of the people here, probably won’t bother paying the full price and that would be a shame. Or, I don’t know, maybe finding a way for people using the free version to test all the features but still be limited in some way... Maybe not as drastic as the one-book limit on Marvin 2 (though it probably worked like a charm, so), but something in that vein? I don’t know, I’m just throwing ideas here.
Annnnd... I’m done.
---
TL;DR: It’s not that I want things for free, not at all, I’ll gladly pay. It’s just
how I pay and the subsequent limited use or not of the product that concerns me. Basically, as far as I’m concerned, I’d much rather have a high price once than a itty bitty one indefinitely.