Comments on: Mundu Has A Great iPhone Chat Application. Why Will They Charge For It?

By: Voip For iPhone | yex6 | What will you find today?

Voip For iPhone | yex6 | What will you find today? — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:06:08 +0000

[...] is not a browser-based chat app like FlickIM or Mundu. It should be a fully functional downloadable version of the application that allows users to [...]

By: TechCrunch en français » Fring lance son application VoIP pour l'iPhone. Premier test en vidéo

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:55:05 +0000

[...] s’agit a la différence de FlickIm ou Mundu d’une version téléchargeable qui permet aux utilisateurs d’accéder aux services [...]

By: cold CHICAGO » Fring iPhone Chat/Voip App Launching Today

cold CHICAGO » Fring iPhone Chat/Voip App Launching Today — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:46:37 +0000

[...] is not a browser-based chat app like FlickIM or Mundu. It should be a fully functional downloadable version of the application that allows users to [...]

By: Fring iPhone Chat/Voip App Launching Today

Fring iPhone Chat/Voip App Launching Today — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:43:41 +0000

[...] is not a browser-based chat app like FlickIM or Mundu. It should be a fully functional downloadable version of the application that allows users to [...]

By: www.webyantra.net»Blog Archive » Product Demp day at Mobile Monday Delhi IV

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 07:22:20 +0000

[...] they managed to launch Mundu IM for the iPhone within days of iPhone’s launch (as also about TechCrunch’s diatribe on Mundu IM being a paid software, which incidentally, it is not). The products look very [...]

By: Most Useful iPhone Site Yet: Meebo | Tekjuice.com

Most Useful iPhone Site Yet: Meebo | Tekjuice.com — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:52:34 +0000

[...] previously covered FlickIM, which has a very nice AIM-only chat app for the iPhone. Mundu and eBuddy also have their own iPhone products as well. Mundu works well, although they may charge for it at [...]

By: Steven Hodson

Steven Hodson — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:45:25 +0000

gee I wonder why my post - which linked back to here — never showed up … http://tinyurl.com/2kh4tu

guess they didn’t like my honest opinion

By: David

David — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:44:57 +0000

Your proclamations in this post are absurd. Any piece of good software deserves a penny to go along with it. How sustainable is a business that gives everything away for free?

They should be giving away a free 30 day trial, and if the user likes it, they buy it. If nobody buys it, they need to start over and build it better.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:58:04 +0000

Just look at the sidebar on this site… full of ads

By: Nedo Ljubav

Nedo Ljubav — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:40:48 +0000

Nick, a typical “know-it-all-but-never-done-it-myself” type. A few are suspecting that you don’t know much at all in reality.

By: Mark S

Mark S — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:37:15 +0000

Yes the “marginal cost” is zero but there are also fixed costs the developers desire to get back + profit. Moreover, there is “opportunity cost” that they incur by creating it in the first place. Throw up an ad??? That’s a great idea… And they should also get VC financing so they can waste $25 million while they wait for the advertisers to jump in…

By: Freeform5

Freeform5 — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:10:19 +0000

While I don’t claim to know what’s best for them to charge, I still don’t get what this has to do with marginal costs.

A market price has nothing to do with cost but with demand. So either you can charge sth for your product (than you should charge as much as you can) or you cannot. Marginal costs might indicate a price floor (minimum price) but not more.

Btw, marginal costs for duplicating software aren’t zero (i.e. customer support costs) - but that’s a different topic.

TC is a nice blog. It’s be sad if the quality is constantly lowered by posts like that.

By: Joshua Duck

Joshua Duck — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 01:48:24 +0000

So Nick, you have no problem paying hundreds of dollars for the iPhone, but you bulk at paying $11 for something that would make the phone much more useful? That seems like double standards to me.

By: Sequential Logic

Sequential Logic — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:20:21 +0000

Believe it or not, people will pay for software…

Over on TechCrunch, there is post about the new Mundu chat software for the iPhone that I have to take issue with. It makes some ridiculous statements about the price and pricing of software, but if you can get past (and discard) those statements, the …

By: Reed

Reed — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:03:19 +0000

1. Mundu has been around for a while making IM apps for handheld computers (I use it on my Palm for example), and shareware (i.e. free demo, small fee to buy) there is the norm.

2. Shareware (i.e. free demo, small fee to buy) has always been fairly sucessful on macs. A bit less so on OSX since the open source community is now involved.

3. $11 is pretty cheap. Especially if you can afford an iPhone.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:14:46 +0000

I agree that there’s far too much talk of some alternative business model that “should” (in a moral sense) be used instead of simply charging for a product. The same sort of arguments are made for intellectual property as well. “The labels should give away the songs so that people will be driven to buy the CD” (which is one variant, and is ludicrous). Another is “Artists should give away the songs to drive people to their concerts” (which might make sense for major artists but makes little sense for bands that play in small venues).

There _might_ be good business models to replace simple payment, but there’s a certain hubris in those who assert that those business models are necessarily (and without any sort of rational explanation) superior. Then, there are those who, like Adam Lindemann said, simply expect to get things for free, because they have no concept of the time and energy that’s expended in creating things.

By: Blog Opinion

Blog Opinion — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:28:17 +0000

I really like mundu mobile application. great access from mobile

By: baze

baze — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:10:42 +0000

I’m using it now, and it appears free to me. Looks good, and worth $11 too. I dropped $600 on the phone, $11 for what appears to be a really useful application is fine with me. If it IS free, I’ll send them 500 rupees no problem.

Apple changed the industry metaphor that led us to expect expensive pieces of hand held technology to be free–as our cell phones have been over the past 10 years. If it’s worth it, I’ll pay for it–same attitude I have with shareware or donationware. My iPhone was worth paying for–software guys need money too.

By: Neil Anderson

Neil Anderson — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:30:08 +0000

Give it away first to secure a huge user base … then charge for it.

By: Jay Neely

Jay Neely — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:14:11 +0000

Nick, I’m surprised you forgot to mention Trillian. They have an iPhone-specific app, and they’ve been playing the compatible-with-all-IM-services game before Meebo was a thought in anyone’s head. I wrote about Trillian’s app as an example of convergence, which is essential for the mobile web. You can view those thoughts at:
http://socialstrategist.com/20.....mobile-web

By: ShitPants

ShitPants — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 10:28:57 +0000

Where’s my pizza at, dog?

By: Amit Chowdhry

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 05:55:43 +0000

@Ali,
Agree to disagree.

By: Professor Print

Professor Print — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:45:20 +0000

Most Indian software companies subscribe to the belief: WE BUILD = WE GET PAID. OUR PRODUCT IS GOOD = WE DESERVE MONEY FOR IT. There is rarely an internal dialogue about competitors, customer acquisition, or market share. It’s very black and white over there when it comes to business strategy.

By: Geodesic - Mundu

Geodesic - Mundu — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:42:57 +0000

Hello everyone,
Geodesic would like to thank everyone for their comments on Mundu IM - iPhone Edition and the spirited discussion on whether we will charge for it or not.

To clarify Mundu IM - iPhone Edition will not be a paid product. I encourage everyone who has an iPhone to try out Mundu IM at http://iphone.mundu.com.

For those who have other smartphones (Palm and Windows Mobile) you can get Mundu IM with some extremely innovative features at just $11 one-time fee. Try it for free at http://messenger.mundu.com

Mundu IM for the iPhone has been a true labor of love for our engineers. And the overwhelming positive response has boosted our spirits to no end.

Thank You!

By: Colin Dowling

Colin Dowling — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 22:52:19 +0000

My favorite part of the web 2.0 ridiculousness is the essentially socialist idea that everything should be free to use and have open standards. Puke. If no one will pay for your product, then it is worthless, no matter how much the “put ads on it” crowd argues otherwise.