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Or so little, with regard to apps. Many consumers scoff at spending $5, or even $1, on an app, but they'll willingly blow it on a drink that will be consumed i

Or so little, with regard to apps. Many consumers scoff at spending $5, or even $1, on an app, but they'll willingly blow it on a drink that will be consumed in 10 minutes.

maxxxxx 9y ago
That's a strange psychology that I can observe in myself.
badpun 9y ago
Consuming a drink is a social act (i.e. you do it among other people, who notice that fact). We're social creatures who are wired to value such acts highly.
- gnode 9y ago
  Replace social drinking with impulse buys in shops.
- wolco 9y ago
  That doesn't account for buying it alone. The truth is you are buying a drug or chemical reaction to make you feel different.
gnode 9y ago
Interestingly, I find (at least in my case) this doesn't apply to games. I've often impulse bought games in the Steam sales for instance.
- tytytytytytytyt 9y ago
  $60 games or only their $8.99 games?
  - gnode 9y ago
    The more expensive games (or bundles) often. I think this breaks the theory that people give more consideration to software purchases, as I would probably give more consideration to spending $60 on drinks. I think it's more about expectations. Many people expect phone apps to be free (no matter how good they are), the fact that paid apps are the exception calls for exceptional consideration when deciding to buy. On the other hand, people don't expect computer games to be free. Although I think games may also be an exceptional case, in that they're thought of more like artistic works (like films) than as software.
- giobox 9y ago
  Something that is typically 30 or 60 dollars reduced substantially in price as one finds in a Steam sale is a very different value proposition from app store pricing, where the prices are always a few dollars generally speaking. Steam sales feels like you are getting a "deal" so probably helps trigger impulse buys. Mobile platform App store pricing doesn't have this effect really, even if prices are always much lower. App stores have also never had something comparable to the precedent set by retail store game pricing, which the game industry has enjoyed and maintained (arguably there should be more outrage at this, given the large reduction in manufacturing and distribution costs Steam should theoretically be able to provide). App stores also grew in an age where consumers were much more used to "free" ad-supported services on the web.
ryandrake 9y ago
With a drink, I'm getting a physical, tangible thing that I know individually took some amount of effort to make. I can watch it being mixed and poured and my reptile brain acknowledges that I'm paying for the raw materials and this bartender's effort (that's on display in front of me). Once I buy the drink it's mine. I can drink it, pour it on my head, give it to someone else, flush it down the toilet, whatever I want. I can take it home and put it under a microscope, maybe verify what it's made of. I can move it into a different container if I want and drink it from there. Due to laws, I have some level of confidence that it will not kill me or make me sick, and that it is fit for the purpose under which it was marketed. With most software, I'm getting a copy that was made at $0 cost. Someone wrote a script long ago that could make an infinite number of copies of it, and the bits I have on my hard drive are from those copies. Sure, the very first copy took huge cost and effort, but my brain always needs to convince myself of this. Also, I'm not buying the software--really I have nothing after I hand my money over. Just some temporary license to use the software only in ways the manufacturer allows. I can lose this right at any time based on terms in some 100 page legal document that I didn't read but I know is written in favor of the manufacturer. I cannot do anything I want with the software. I can't learn how it works or modify it. I (often) am not allowed to move the software into a different computer and use it there. I have no guarantees that the software will work at all. The software is usually not warranted in any way, nor claimed to be fit for any purpose, and the manufacturer disclaims every possible liability for anything that happens as a result of using the software, again, in its 100 pages of legal documents. I'm surprised it's normal to pay anything at all for software.
- ForRealsies 9y ago
  Are you surprised it's normal for anyone to pay with credit cards?
- borplk 9y ago
  That's just a lot of hand waving. People throw $5 in the busker's hat as they are casually walking by without a second thought. Yet they have a hard time paying for a $2 android game that keeps them entertained for many hours. Of course it's their money and they have the right to decide how to use it but it's also just plain odd and unfair to suddenly treat $2 as if it was $200 when it comes to software.
Clubber 9y ago
Yes, and it really hurt the app industry. I wish Apple had made the minimum $5 or something. It ended up being a race to the bottom. You get what you pay for.
watwut 9y ago
The 5$ is what you pay for being at that place and with people. When people drink at home, they rarely pay that much.

Or so little, with regard to apps. Many consumers scoff at spending $5, or even $1, on an app, but they'll willingly blow it on a drink that will be consumed in 10 minutes.

maxxxxx 9y ago

That's a strange psychology that I can observe in myself.

badpun 9y ago

Consuming a drink is a social act (i.e. you do it among other people, who notice that fact). We're social creatures who are wired to value such acts highly.

gnode 9y ago
Replace social drinking with impulse buys in shops.
wolco 9y ago
That doesn't account for buying it alone. The truth is you are buying a drug or chemical reaction to make you feel different.

gnode 9y ago

Interestingly, I find (at least in my case) this doesn't apply to games. I've often impulse bought games in the Steam sales for instance.

tytytytytytytyt 9y ago
$60 games or only their $8.99 games?
- gnode 9y ago
  The more expensive games (or bundles) often. I think this breaks the theory that people give more consideration to software purchases, as I would probably give more consideration to spending $60 on drinks. I think it's more about expectations. Many people expect phone apps to be free (no matter how good they are), the fact that paid apps are the exception calls for exceptional consideration when deciding to buy. On the other hand, people don't expect computer games to be free. Although I think games may also be an exceptional case, in that they're thought of more like artistic works (like films) than as software.
giobox 9y ago
Something that is typically 30 or 60 dollars reduced substantially in price as one finds in a Steam sale is a very different value proposition from app store pricing, where the prices are always a few dollars generally speaking. Steam sales feels like you are getting a "deal" so probably helps trigger impulse buys. Mobile platform App store pricing doesn't have this effect really, even if prices are always much lower. App stores have also never had something comparable to the precedent set by retail store game pricing, which the game industry has enjoyed and maintained (arguably there should be more outrage at this, given the large reduction in manufacturing and distribution costs Steam should theoretically be able to provide). App stores also grew in an age where consumers were much more used to "free" ad-supported services on the web.

ryandrake 9y ago

With a drink, I'm getting a physical, tangible thing that I know individually took some amount of effort to make. I can watch it being mixed and poured and my reptile brain acknowledges that I'm paying for the raw materials and this bartender's effort (that's on display in front of me). Once I buy the drink it's mine. I can drink it, pour it on my head, give it to someone else, flush it down the toilet, whatever I want. I can take it home and put it under a microscope, maybe verify what it's made of. I can move it into a different container if I want and drink it from there. Due to laws, I have some level of confidence that it will not kill me or make me sick, and that it is fit for the purpose under which it was marketed. With most software, I'm getting a copy that was made at $0 cost. Someone wrote a script long ago that could make an infinite number of copies of it, and the bits I have on my hard drive are from those copies. Sure, the very first copy took huge cost and effort, but my brain always needs to convince myself of this. Also, I'm not buying the software--really I have nothing after I hand my money over. Just some temporary license to use the software only in ways the manufacturer allows. I can lose this right at any time based on terms in some 100 page legal document that I didn't read but I know is written in favor of the manufacturer. I cannot do anything I want with the software. I can't learn how it works or modify it. I (often) am not allowed to move the software into a different computer and use it there. I have no guarantees that the software will work at all. The software is usually not warranted in any way, nor claimed to be fit for any purpose, and the manufacturer disclaims every possible liability for anything that happens as a result of using the software, again, in its 100 pages of legal documents. I'm surprised it's normal to pay anything at all for software.

ForRealsies 9y ago
Are you surprised it's normal for anyone to pay with credit cards?
borplk 9y ago
That's just a lot of hand waving. People throw $5 in the busker's hat as they are casually walking by without a second thought. Yet they have a hard time paying for a $2 android game that keeps them entertained for many hours. Of course it's their money and they have the right to decide how to use it but it's also just plain odd and unfair to suddenly treat $2 as if it was $200 when it comes to software.

Clubber 9y ago

Yes, and it really hurt the app industry. I wish Apple had made the minimum $5 or something. It ended up being a race to the bottom. You get what you pay for.

watwut 9y ago

The 5$ is what you pay for being at that place and with people. When people drink at home, they rarely pay that much.