Marvin pricing

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by Dalwyn

Do you think there will ever be a Kindle Fire version?

Not before an Android version, as Fire is modified Android... and Marvin for Android seems rather remote at this point.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

Actually, while I agree that Marvin's worth it, I think it's too expensive compared to the ebook reader "ecosystem":

Apabi Reader Free
Blio Free
Bluefire Reader Free
DL Reader Free
eBookMobi €1,79
i2Reader €4,49
iBooks Free
Kindle Free
Kobo eBooks Free
MegaReader €1,79
ShuBook Free (€2,69 for extra features)
Stanza Free
uBook s Free (€4,49 if you don't want ads)

The pricing will keep a fair amount of people away (someone already mentioned that on Facebook).
Personally, I'd have implemented the themes IAPs and kept the iPhone version free of charge, too.

For more details: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...02#post2516702

The argument, btw, that the iPad version is for testing is problematic - not everyone owns an iPad.

There is a free version of Marvin for iPhone that you can use to test. It only loads one book at a time. But it's functional otherwise.

Also, most of the above listed reading apps are lousy. And that includes iBooks and Kindle. On an iPhone, that are both awful. They use wide forced margins and on an iPhone, screen real estate matter. Marvin can go right to the left/right edges of the screen.

[JSWolf]

I managed to get my wife reading on her iPhone 5s using the Marvin Free version. She is thinking of buying the full version. The price wasn't an issue for her when se mentioned maybe buying it.

The book she is reading now, she tried first with iBooks and two things happened. One, iBooks tosses up an error with the cover and did not display the cover. Second, the margins are just too large. Marvin displays this books very well with no errors.

[kguil]

@Dalwyn - Maybe if I ever consider do an Android version. So far I don't have any plans whatsoever.

[Jessica Lares]

Amazon has been really fussy about letting alternative readers in the store. Kris has more of a chance of getting Marvin bought out then it getting onto the Amazon Appstore.

[At_Libitum]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Kris has more of a chance of getting Marvin bought out then it getting onto the Amazon Appstore.

For Kris that might not be such a bad thing, but for us? Oy...

[kyteflyer]

You can bet that Amazon will be eyeing off the product by now. It will just need a groundswell of users that they think they will gain by making an offer.

[kguil]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

You can bet that Amazon will be eyeing off the product by now.

I noticed that they added a vocabulary to their Paperwhites. Or was it always there (I haven't used an eInk Kindle in a very long time)?

[Faterson]

It's a new Kindle feature and it's also combined with "flashcards" (whatever that is, I haven't seen it operate on a Kindle first-hand).

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by kguil

@Dalwyn - Maybe if I ever consider do an Android version. So far I don't have any plans whatsoever.

No hurries KG - I think iOS & iPad are the benchmark for a lot of smaller teams who had successful apps/ games.

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Amazon has been really fussy about letting alternative readers in the store. Kris has more of a chance of getting Marvin bought out then it getting onto the Amazon Appstore.

I strongly believe that SELLING OUT is not the only way to go.

In a sell out the product usually gets screwed by the acquirer and the VISION of the product dies.

If money did become an issues, I'd much rather help KG monetize his code base in other ways (I've been helping/ advising small startups).

KG - If you haven't followed the 37 Signals & REWORK folks, I think it might an interesting thing for you to check out.

I know one startup that has received funds & partnership offers but chosen to stay clean and go on their own rather then sell out. They love their product and creation.. not the greed for $$

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...l855l0.1.3l4l0

[kguil]

@crashnburn - thanks for your advice!

[Apocalypto]

Originally Posted by crashnburn

I strongly believe that SELLING OUT is not the only way to go.

In a sell out the product usually gets screwed by the acquirer and the VISION of the product dies.

If money did become an issues, I'd much rather help KG monetize his code base in other ways (I've been helping/ advising small startups).

Selling to Amazon would kill the product a la Stanza but Marvin is only viable as long as it produces sufficient ROI for Kris to spend the time supporting it. The low-hanging fruit is monetizing the "free" versions, and that means ads, but you can do it in a tasteful way. This would also free him to switch to a universal binary for the paid app but I know he's conscious of not abandoning 5.x users (iPad 1?) so if it comes to that maybe the next major version.

It's important enough to have a good reader that puts user considerations above those of the store it's tied to (like Kindle or iBooks) that I'd also support Kris charging again for a 3.0 update, along with the revamped free, but that'd probably need surveying users because it could turn people off too.

[marcoxyz]

Hi All

I was really wondering last Week that the iPad version of Marvin was for free. But to testing this app out it was a perfect start.
What i think is: Make features as in app purchase.

1. Many people like me like to have a book reading experience like an "real" book and not like reading a PDF. So make reading themes available as in app purchages with skeuomorphism or others available. I would pay for this $5-$10

2. Make a interface for dictionarys. Best in a standard format Like mac os X dicts or stardict. I would pay for this $10. Since that is a killer feature.

3. I have already all my ebooks on my Dropbox. What i dont have is for 1000+ Books the right file names and sorting in folders. So that would be a perfect feature when the Metadata of my books resulting in a clean structure on dropbox like itunes it do for audio files on your PC. I would pay for that $5.

and so on...

I know some people want only a nice looking ebook reader and the features what you have at this time are perfect for them. For power users with many books and every evening reading experience is it not difficult to pay $20 for features since a good ebook have the same price (DRM is no problem since Calibre has an simple to use plugin for removal ;-) ).

ciao Marco

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by kguil

@crashnburn - thanks for your advice!

Originally Posted by Apocalypto

Selling to Amazon would kill the product a la Stanza but Marvin is only viable as long as it produces sufficient ROI for Kris to spend the time supporting it. The low-hanging fruit is monetizing the "free" versions, and that means ads, but you can do it in a tasteful way. This would also free him to switch to a universal binary for the paid app but I know he's conscious of not abandoning 5.x users (iPad 1?) so if it comes to that maybe the next major version.

It's important enough to have a good reader that puts user considerations above those of the store it's tied to (like Kindle or iBooks) that I'd also support Kris charging again for a 3.0 update, along with the revamped free, but that'd probably need surveying users because it could turn people off too.

No. Ads are a crummy way for any apps "exceptions" being 'content' ads like Flipboard. Why? It has a magazine feel and between articles you have some Ad Pages.

For Kevin - I'd do what we are doing for a small product startup - White Label licensing without exclusive rights.
So keep developing the product, maintain quality and feature set. Maintain vision.
Do not bow to clients. Let product vision grow in best way.
Keep team and organization "SMALL" light so cost pressures do not come up.
Let it be the reader of choice for people - Demand drives it.
Slowly port/ license it to various Reader / Book Platforms as the best Reader (managed, designed and kept PERFECTLY CAPABLE)

PS: All the positive benefits of Stanza without the negatives of selling out Amazon.

[Philantrop]

There are tons of issues with white label products and/or services and I'd never advise anyone to do it unless it's an exit strategy. Otherwise, here's an interesting article:

http://wpcurve.com/white-label-failure/