Rev 2.02/New pricing

[Geoff Canyon]

Responses below:

On Thursday, July 17, 2003, at 12:10  AM, curry wrote:

> I thought that everyone had agreed (about ten thousand times) that the 
> great thing about Revolution and MetaCard is you develop on all 
> platforms. We all know that developing on one platform for another 
> without being able to make changes on both can be the pits.

Certainly true, but people have also been clamoring for a lower cost 
option for hobbyists. Now one is available.

<snip>

> But here are the points I want to consider:
>
> 1. The fee model is very similar to RealBasic. I guess that's okay. 
> (Although I came here trying to get away from RealBasic!) The prices 
> and update privileges are similar. But a few important points: 
> Realbasic Standard is 150 for CD and printed docs, and (as far as I 
> know, I haven't fooled with them much lately) no "Made with" message. 
> RB is 100 for license and downloads only.

Obviously REALbasic and Revolution aren't interchangeable, but playing 
along for a moment, the Express edition is currently $75, and it 
includes access to MySQL, PostgreSQL, and other databases.

If you have exactly $150 to spend then REALbasic is ahead at that price 
point because of the printed manuals.

At $199 you can get Revolution Studio, which includes database access 
and cross-compiling. You don't get those until you move to REALbasic 
Professional for $399.

Note that I'm listing the intro price above. The gap narrows after the 
deal expires.

> I prefer e-docs, so that's no problem for me, although many people are 
> ravenous for docs printed out. (But when you pay 150 for something, it 
> shouldn't be like a cereal box offer for kids where you get the nag 
> version. "Made with" is popular for versions of software ranging from 
> free to 30 dollars. Even though it's the cheapest level, 150 is still 
> way above the nag level and those customers have paid adequately for 
> control over their software including notices. You might get away with 
> it (and maybe open up a new market for Rev and get more new people in) 
> for a fifty dollar version with enough additional limitations.

Express is intended for hobbyists.

> If I bought RealBasic (not planning to, but let's look at the 
> comparison since the price models look similar) I would definitely get 
> (two of) the license-only versions at 100 each. If I bought Rev (from 
> scratch, pretend I'm a new customer) that's 150 each--for the same 
> thing, download the app and docs. Now, you do get some value for that 
> 50 dollars each, but still, that's a consideration.

Currently it's $75 each, for $150 total.

> 2. A more positive thought: Depending on the renewals, I may be 
> considering the 150 version, buying one for Mac and one for Windows. 
> That's fine. I would probably prefer that to the 400 version because 
> you can edit on both platforms. But a promo screen at the end would 
> jinx it up.
>
> Even if the renewal fees were sweet enough to make it better for me to 
> use another version, I still think that would still be a good option 
> for people getting started.

That's the idea.

> But again, the promo screen--it's almost like a communication 
> breakdown and lack of understanding of concepts and viewpoints between 
> company and customer--not realizing that a 150 or 300 dollar per 
> feature version customer is a serious customer! Look at other 
> companies and products. The nag version (with the right limitations, 
> they need to be sufficient limitations and something to adequately 
> differentiate from the standard version and more serious 
> users--notably, probably not making products to sell for profit) is 
> totally acceptable to bring in people who are not doing something so 
> serious, at a different price range. Teachers, kids, hobbyists who are 
> not hard-core, freeware developers and non-profits--all these would be 
> perfect examples and Rev could possibly start a new line of business 
> there--but it has *nothing* to do with a version, no matter what it's 
> called, at the 150 range. Making this mistake could have the potential 
> to cheapen your product image and lose a whole set of potential 
> customers in a certain range of price and interests.

Teachers and kids would be eligible for the educational discount, so it 
would not be $150. During the introduction it's not even $75.

> 3. What will be the results of the changes in terms of defining 
> Revolution and how will people see it under the new setup? The old 
> definition was definitely: the ultimate in multi-platform, in all 
> aspects, at all levels.
>
> However, I can understand that paying for platform privileges makes 
> sense. So if this works out, fine. I'm open to it, as long as the 
> issues such as #1 and #2 are handled well enough.
>
> Well, there it is. I want to say congrats to RunRev on everything 
> that's happened lately! It's exciting. But think carefully about this 
> pricing model.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Curry Kenworthy
> _______________________________________________
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> use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
>
>

regards,

Geoff Canyon
gcanyon at inspiredlogic.com