Cost of iPhone Navigation apps a balancing act...
BTW, who does not have a GPS unit nowadays? If you check on most highways, all small to medium sized cars have them attached to their windshields. Anybody who can currently afford an iPhone has most probably taken advantage of the reasonable prices of stand-alone units. As for the bigger-sized cars, most have in-dash navigation. If you are a rental customer, most carry their GPS systems, and if you are a high-end rental customer, the cars come with in-dash navigation or an external stand-alone unit as part of the package!
For international travellers, using the navigation app might be expensive, especially if it entails using a roaming charge. I am in the US and I use the Tom-Tom 920 while travelling in Europe and Canada. You can get a refurbished unit at less than $200 at Amazon, and if it means lugging one extra piece of equipment, then let it be. I do not know if you can use the free google maps app without any data connection, but I don't think so; so, a stand-alone unit system makes sense if you are not in your network!
If the app is not going to run in the background (being forced to reload maps after the phone call as per early adopters) then it might be tricky when using the iPhone while navigating in an unfamiliar city (especially like my home city, Philadelphia with all its one way roads!)
Another advantage of a stand-alone GPS unit is that, you can 'lend' it to a close family member or friend while you are not travelling and they are! I give mine to my brother all the time when he goes to the UK! I would not give him my iPhone!
For navigation apps that are being introduced now (unlike 3 years ago when they were prevalent in the Treos, I had a 650, and it was somehow cheaper to buy the monthly subscription, since the prices of the stand-alone units was higher then) they are going to compete with the following;
a) Stand-alone GPS units. Most people I know don't upgrade their units, or do so sporadically, and do not count the 'high' subscription/upgrade fees as part of the costs of operating the GPS unit. Once they buy it (for between $100 to $200,) that's it!
b) The 'free' google maps app on the iPhone. Yes, it has no spoken street names, and many other amenities that are available on a stand-alone GPS unit or a 'real' navigation app, but most iPhone users I know have already 'learned' to follow the blue dot and get to their destination. It might be dangerous and laborious to some, but it becomes like juggling two (not three) fruits after some time!
c) The feeling amongst iPhone users that they are already paying too much for the iPhone services, and the misconception that other cell-phone companies don't charge for this navigation service (they always have). Yes, AT&T charges other smartphone users for navigation services, but remember, iPhone users are the most spoiled users out there ( I am one of them, so don't throw any stones) They demand loyalty and service from BOTH AT&T and Apple, bickering to both companies when a problem arises. I remember when I had a Treo after AT&T merged with Cingular, I could not fathom complaining to Palm for the mishaps of their device for some reason. In any case, there was no real Palm store (not in my area, maybe in the Bay Area, who knows!) to walk into for a tutorial with a 'palm' genius) or to exchange one's 650 if it crashed repeatedly! Only a trip to the Cingular/AT&T store could save you! With an iPhone, you could rush to the AT&T store, and if they are unflinching, dash to the Apple store, which I presume is not too far away! With a bare-bones iPhone bill going to around $100 after taxes, iPhone users feel that they are not only entitled to freebies, but also entitled to modify their contracts (like a loan modification mortgage program LOL!!!) to run away from their two year contracts to get the latest 3GS!
To compete with all these factors, the key factor being the low cost of stand-alone GPS units, and the fact that many people have bought these units during the Black Friday deals in the US (or scrambled to get them when Circuit City was closing down!) at $100 or less, they may have to adjust their prices to make iPhone users adopt navigation as part of their interface enmass.
I do not have a big problem with AT&T and/or Apple/iPhone. I think the iPhone in general blows all phones out of the water. However, this, and other requests by iPhone users just show how much leverage you lose if you introduce a product/application/usage too late into the market.
- MMS is a feature that has been part of the most basic cell-phones for ages. Look at the situation in Iran. Basic phones are being used to broadcast pictures of the unrest worldwide by people who live in a 'third world country'!
- Video. This has always been a feature of most phones. Same Iran example. Basic phones are broadcasting video of the unrest all over the world, while iPhone 2g and 3g users with $600 phones cannot even take video!
- GPS. Everybody kept on telling Apple about the need to have GPS in their iPhone. All Treos and Blackberrys had these features ages ago, and I remember owners buying memory cards with the latest maps to insert into their Treos. At that time, it made economic sense to purchase the maps, as stand-alone GPS units were costing $300 to $600. Apple is reacting when units can cost $50 after rebates! There is just too much competition and too many options, and only hard-core iPhone users shall pay for the AT&T and TomTom navigation on the iPhone.
- Cut, Copy and Paste. It is now here with us, but hey, didn't we all complain 2-3 years ago for a software update?
-Multitasking. Yes, we know it drains battery life, but give us this option with the disclaimer in red. A Good example is the navigation app shutting down when a phone call is coming in, forcing the app to reload maps when the phone call is through! Imagine if you are taking a long 1 hour phone call! What next? They said that multitasking was impossible/unnecessary, but I saw videos of the Palm Pre! (another company that goofed big-time, riding on the success of the treos, forgetting to listen to their palm/treo-forum customers! Have you seen how little traffic treo forums get nowadays??!! Just check them out!)
- Camera with flash, front facing camera for ichat, with a 5.0 MP or better, video light, TV viewing capability, etc. These should have been out with the 3GS!!!
-Wireless keyboard. This would bridge the gap between those who think that the iPhone should have a physical keyboard (they want this keyboard because they type for long periods of time, or type lengthy documents) and those who don't. Having this type of keyboard (I had one for my treo) means that many more business people would use the iPhone for all its worth, instead of branding the iPhone as an elitist phone more suited for the 'fun' user. With prices of $99 and $199, it is no longer elitist to own an iPhone!
I could list many other examples, eg tethering, etc. Please, AT&T and Apple, please listen to your users, and you shall be amazed at just how much leverage you can have if you implement what the majority feel they need on their iPhones!
Let us have the tomtom app, together with the windshield mount, for a one-time fee of $100 max, which can be paid in monthly/quarterly installments or tacked onto your bill (with maybe an optional $20 'annual' upgrade fee that ensures that your maps are automatically upgraded every quarter) Unless you do this, then only a handful of iPhone customers shall see the need to purchase these apps!
Who agrees with me?
THAT I would love to see changed.
