HanDBase Related News Update!

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Count me in as a subscriber. What a wonderful product.
How much annual income would you require to make supporting this product worthwhile?
If out of 50,000 users you could secure a $10 annual subscription fee on 20,000 users then certainly it's worthwhile ($200,000).

Thanks for the kind words! Certainly 200,000 would make it more than worthwhile- I'd venture to say even half of that would be worthwhile for me. But as MidlandDeltic said, getting to 20k annual users would be the challenge:

That figure is well out. Play Store is showing 10000 downloads. Given that you can have it on three devices, and a significant number of downloads will be for trial purposes, and given the lack if development a significant proportion of users will have moved on, I suspect the true number of users is around the 3000 mark. So to get your $200,000 you are talking around $70 per year.

While I don't have analytics in HanDBase, I suspect an even lower number on Android of weekly active users. Even discounting the slow development pace these days, many apps that people pay for and install don't continue to get used. Think of all the apps you've paid for and don't currently use- for me I have spent hundreds of dollars on apps, and probably only use half a dozen of those paid apps on a regular basis. HanDBase has several user types: Ones who use it to track everything and hence go in daily, ones who bought it and only occasionally use it, and ones who bought it but don't use it at all. Of those, I'd guess only the first group would be interested in something like a subscription. And so the exercise becomes guessing how many of the active users fall into that category!

[SzDoc]

+1 on both necessity of software and willingness to pay a subscription fee

[kwmatley]

I've no objection to a subscription fee, but another alternative could be just coming out with new versions, and charging a new fee for them. You could make HanDBase Pro, HanDBase Plus, or whatever. Another app I use came out with a new Pro version but provided an in-app payment option to add all the new features to the previous version so long-time users didn't have to pay again in order to upgrade.

[drruth2]

I, like many, have used HanDBase since Palm III days. For a long time I also used SmartList alongside HanDBase. Then some big software house purchased SmartList and it disappeared. I mention this because I don't' wish HanDBase to disappear. I periodically "try" some of the other DB apps. They uniformly are inferior, except for a couple purpose built in unique fields. I just read thru the posts from back in the Nov/Dec/Jan period on the options for providing a funding stream that would enable HanDBase to have continued support. A bit of digression. About a year ago I contacted the developer of wiki-based note-taking app that ran on the Palm OS. It never ported over to Android or iOS. In an extended exchange I learned those developers went through the same agonizing decisions Brian has related. They opted for iOS gaming and have struggled, but the user base for their Palm product has long since evaporated.

Therefore, collectively, the HanDBase user community has to make a hard decision. If not financially supported the product will eventually disappear. The model for most app development is get something that works up on the Store fronts with a free version and a relatively inexpensive, and hopefully better/richer paid version. Rarely do any future updates come with a fee. Most of the worthwhile apps are maintained by individuals with a passion for the app. But then reality sets in and they have to make choices to support a family.

In the Palm days (and Commodore 64, yes I'm an old guy) I expected to pay anywhere from $20 to $40 dollars for a worthwhile and useful app (they were still called applications then). Updates that were major feature improvements would cost anywhere from $5 to $15. Most of the desktop apps that I routinely use still follow this model. It seems to me that this approach is the only one that has stood the test of time. I believe the suggestions for a pool of desired improvements have merit. The developers could place a cost factor against that wishlist and the community could vote via some mechanism for what they are willing to support. When the release came out the user then pays for the release.

This comes across as somewhat harsh, but the developers must be able to support families. If they are producing a worthy product, the user community must realize that product comes at a cost.

[edwin2011]

I, like many, have used HanDBase since Palm III days. For a long time I also used SmartList alongside HanDBase. Then some big software house purchased SmartList and it disappeared. I mention this because I don't' wish HanDBase to disappear. I periodically "try" some of the other DB apps. They uniformly are inferior, except for a couple purpose built in unique fields. I just read thru the posts from back in the Nov/Dec/Jan period on the options for providing a funding stream that would enable HanDBase to have continued support. A bit of digression. About a year ago I contacted the developer of wiki-based note-taking app that ran on the Palm OS. It never ported over to Android or iOS. In an extended exchange I learned those developers went through the same agonizing decisions Brian has related. They opted for iOS gaming and have struggled, but the user base for their Palm product has long since evaporated.

Therefore, collectively, the HanDBase user community has to make a hard decision. If not financially supported the product will eventually disappear. The model for most app development is get something that works up on the Store fronts with a free version and a relatively inexpensive, and hopefully better/richer paid version. Rarely do any future updates come with a fee. Most of the worthwhile apps are maintained by individuals with a passion for the app. But then reality sets in and they have to make choices to support a family.

In the Palm days (and Commodore 64, yes I'm an old guy) I expected to pay anywhere from $20 to $40 dollars for a worthwhile and useful app (they were still called applications then). Updates that were major feature improvements would cost anywhere from $5 to $15. Most of the desktop apps that I routinely use still follow this model. It seems to me that this approach is the only one that has stood the test of time. I believe the suggestions for a pool of desired improvements have merit. The developers could place a cost factor against that wishlist and the community could vote via some mechanism for what they are willing to support. When the release came out the user then pays for the release.

This comes across as somewhat harsh, but the developers must be able to support families. If they are producing a worthy product, the user community must realize that product comes at a cost.

Amen. Let the guy that work's for a dollar per hour raise his hand!
Who invented that we want to earn 100$ per hour for the work we do and at the same time expect that someone else produces a product for 50 cents an hour.
I vote for a decent product for a acceptable price. The same for updates. If it is more then a update just ask a fee if you want to use the new features.

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Therefore, collectively, the HanDBase user community has to make a hard decision. If not financially supported the product will eventually disappear. The model for most app development is get something that works up on the Store fronts with a free version and a relatively inexpensive, and hopefully better/richer paid version. Rarely do any future updates come with a fee. Most of the worthwhile apps are maintained by individuals with a passion for the app. But then reality sets in and they have to make choices to support a family.

In the Palm days (and Commodore 64, yes I'm an old guy) I expected to pay anywhere from $20 to $40 dollars for a worthwhile and useful app (they were still called applications then). Updates that were major feature improvements would cost anywhere from $5 to $15. Most of the desktop apps that I routinely use still follow this model. It seems to me that this approach is the only one that has stood the test of time. I believe the suggestions for a pool of desired improvements have merit. The developers could place a cost factor against that wishlist and the community could vote via some mechanism for what they are willing to support. When the release came out the user then pays for the release.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I am an 'old guy' myself I guess- I wrote my first application while in 5th grade on my Timex Sinclair 1000, and then saved up for the Commodore 64 and that was my dream machine for several years! I will admit though, back then I didn't really buy many applications, they were mostly copied from friends. As I got older I realized that this was wrong, especially when I started trying to make a living from this, and now don't pirate software any longer! I say this though because it goes to show how easy it is for someone to not think about the others being effected by the realities of that change in the market- the Commodore's disk drives made making copies very easy and it changed and ultimately killed the marketplace for software. And kids like me didn't even know they were to blame for it, we were just bummed when there weren't any new good games coming out anymore. The 'race to the bottom' in pricing on the app store has had it's effects as well- and this is without anyone doing anything illegal or morally wrong. It's just the nature of the business now. And it has had it's casualties as a result.

This comes across as somewhat harsh, but the developers must be able to support families. If they are producing a worthy product, the user community must realize that product comes at a cost.

Thanks for that- really appreciate it! Been thinking about this for a long time and may have some new ideas in the near future on this to share...

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Amen. Let the guy that work's for a dollar per hour raise his hand!
Who invented that we want to earn 100$ per hour for the work we do and at the same time expect that someone else produces a product for 50 cents an hour.
I vote for a decent product for a acceptable price. The same for updates. If it is more then a update just ask a fee if you want to use the new features.

Agree with this- thanks for your thoughts and input!

[GJHmf]

Thanks for the honest update.

May I mirror other comments here, and say I also wouldn't object to a subscription service if it meant Android versions could continue and approach what the iOS version offers. Maybe an adware version for lite users, and subscription for a clean experience.

Oh, I've also been a user since the Palm days. Keep up the good work, this app is essential to me.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Thanks for the honest update.

May I mirror other comments here, and say I also wouldn't object to a subscription service if it meant Android versions could continue and approach what the iOS version offers. Maybe an adware version for lite users, and subscription for a clean experience.

Oh, I've also been a user since the Palm days. Keep up the good work, this app is essential to me.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Thanks - this is actually very close to what I am thinking of and for the very same reasons! Stay tuned for some progress on this soon.

[patrickwest]

I too would be willing to pay a small subscription fee each year.

I hate the subscription model but it is FAR better than having Handbase die.

Perhaps you could go with a two model approach.

Purchase a copy a new copy on a certain iOS and it is good for the life of that iOS version, only.
Updated version for a new iOS, without any new features, available for same price as purchasing a new copy.
An updated version with new features available as an in app purchase.


So for example, I am running iOS10 and have Handbase 4.9.073 2016.9.17.1

When iOS11 comes out I can keep running 4.9.073 2016.9.17.1 if it works but if I want an updated for iOS11 version I have to purchase it in the appstore.
For the SAME price as purchasing the app for the first time.

AS new features arrive I can purchase these as inapp purchases, and yes when I purchase the new iOS12 version I have to repeat any inapp purchases for the new version.