Why should I ever donate....?

[kingjain]

A lot of people have posted on this thread, annoyed with the measly donate icons they have to face on dev's websites, or apps. I am not here to stir up controversy, but just to state some facts, and raise awareness. I present to you, the view from a dev himself. Please do not think I am after your money, because I am not a dev, and am not part of any kind of app development, so I have nothing to do with donations. I myself, have been skeptical about donate buttons, and I always thought they were just a way of tokening the hard work of a developer. But after reading this post, I can see how in some cases that may not be the reason. So, why should I ever donate...?

Originally Posted by pimpmypre

I just wanted to respond to whomever said something about the donation icons.

You must understand that PreLoad isn't like your normal Aplication. A normal application gets posted somewhere and that server's bandwidth is being used for people to download it. Typically, that's PreCentral or the PreCentral feed through Preware. That is awesome of them to do this.

Now, PreLoad works off of that concept. You have these apps that you want to download and we streamline the feeds through our server, and we have apps on our server of our own. Everytime you download one it uses bandwidth - our bandwidth actually.

Whenever you view a list of wallpapers, download a ringtone, preview a sound - that's *more* bandwidth. That doesn't happen when you play a fart sound, find your car, or use googyOS to view the google apps (love those apps guys!!!). The typial app is on your phone and it's being used at no cost to the developer. Even filecoaster uses Precentral's feed, not a server that the developer pays for (as far as I know).

As of now, people have downloaded and used so much that we have used up 70 GIGS of transfer bandwidth. We are paying out of our own pockets for a dedicated server to handle this load. I don't see why asking for a donation is bad. It's not REQUIRED like some other apps. We have also stated publically, and Rod from Preware will hold us to this forever, that PreLoad is and always will be free. If you have another option for us to pay $160 a month for this app without asking for donations, we'd appreciate it.

Eventually, yes, we're going to have to put and ad or two on there to get this thing to pay for itself. We use it just as much as everyone else. Does that diminish the app or us in some way? Because we may get to a point where we can't afford to pay this every month ourselves so that people have this service to use?

I don't think so, and I think that if you ever had to host such a large repository and tried to do something to benefit the community like this, you wouldn't either.

Note: As I said before, I am not looking for donations...i am not part of any dev team. I am simply trying to raise awareness for the real reasons of donating! Please note, this does not just apply to PreLoad itself. There are other apps that need such resources as well!

[prenoob]

I absolutely agree and have donated myself. I have not reviewed that post, but appreciated you raising the awareness in the Pre community.

Thanks Kingjain!

[PookiePrancer]

Good grief! If for no other reason than that these folks are providing apps that make my phone easier and more enjoyable to use!

It's nice that many are offering their apps for free, but why do so many come to expect that? I believe you get what you pay for. Having tried so many of Apple's free apps...they suck (though at least they let you sample the product)! So do some on the Pre's catalog. Money is the best incentive for devs, and it helps them pay for expenses assciated with providing their apps; I'll pay any day over having ads in my programs.

Sorry...my thoughts are mostly rambling, but they're just flowing off my mind and it's how I feel.

[rexalbel]

I actual understand the donating concept. I am working with developers as a designer and they really do this on their freetime, sometimes taking several hours. They really don't force anyone to pay. If you have the extra cash and the app is worth it then that's good, if not, its ok too. I'd rather every app be free but have the option to donate than be charged and not like the apps like apple does. I hope palm implements this so that more apps can be free in the catalog. I just think that the developers work hard and deserve a little help, especially since alot of them don't even ask. And there are some great apps I usually feel bad because I can't donate now, but I donate by helping design which could help the apps become more attractive to others. I know its not much but its as much as I can do right now anyway not trying to stir anything upup glade they are free!

[PookiePrancer]

Originally Posted by rexalbel

I'd rather every app be free but have the option to donate than be charged and not like the apps like apple does. I hope palm implements this so that more apps can be free in the catalog.

That would be cool. I bet Palm isn't going to let any developer pocket all the proceeds from donations, though; plus I'm sure there are tax implications.

[kingjain]

@cardfan - You are the only one so far that doesn't feel donating through apps/websites is the way to go. Can you offer a better way?

Thanks.

[kingjain]

Originally Posted by PookiePrancer

Good grief! If for no other reason than that these folks are providing apps that make my phone easier and more enjoyable to use!

It's nice that many are offering their apps for free, but why do so many come to expect that? I believe you get what you pay for. Having tried so many of Apple's free apps...they suck (though at least they let you sample the product)! So do some on the Pre's catalog. Money is the best incentive for devs, and it helps them pay for expenses assciated with providing their apps; I'll pay any day over having ads in my programs.

Sorry...my thoughts are mostly rambling, but they're just flowing off my mind and it's how I feel.

I see how you feel, but hopefully homebrew apps like Preload will stay free, as they have said it will. The main reason I see incentive to donate is because of the costs they have to pay to provide a service to us. It doesn't seem fair that they get stuck with well over a hundred dollar bill. Yet, not everyone has the ability to donate, for whatever the reason may be. Therefore by keeping the app free, and putting the link out for donations, it becomes easily available to everyone. It is just a tiny paypal button, not much of an advertisement. Easily avoidable if you want it to be. But that's just my opinion, of course. I rather the app be free and available to everyone, putting money on the conscious of the user.

[coachdvc]

I completely agree, and I am for donating to these developers. My question is this: How much?

I have no clue how much a decent app goes for because this is the first phone I've owned where I could actually get apps for it. Is $0.99 a decent donation or is that a slap in the face? I've heard the "how much is the app worth to you" theory on donating as well, but that's not helpful because I have no frame of reference to base my donations on. Any help and guidance in a donation amount is appreciated.

[kingjain]

Originally Posted by coachdvc

I completely agree, and I am for donating to these developers. My question is this: How much?

I have no clue how much a decent app goes for because this is the first phone I've owned where I could actually get apps for it. Is $0.99 a decent donation or is that a slap in the face? I've heard the "how much is the app worth to you" theory on donating as well, but that's not helpful because I have no frame of reference to base my donations on. Any help and guidance in a donation amount is appreciated.

I'm really not sure, it's up to you. I might just go and ask a dev and get back to you myself I'm guessing it's whatever your conscious allows you to give, and what you can give. Also, it depends on the app!

$0.99 is the lowest I would go, but hey, it's still something right!

[coachdvc]

Originally Posted by kingjain

I'm really not sure. I might just go and ask a dev and get back to you myself I'm guessing it's whatever your conscious allows you to give, and what you can give. Also, it depends on the app!

What if developers started putting a "suggested donation" amount? Then at least those of us who are willing to donate will know what a "decent" donation would be. I don't want to donate too little, but I also don't want to over donate as I'm not even CLOSE to being a rich man.

[kingjain]

Originally Posted by coachdvc

What if developers started putting a "suggested donation" amount? Then at least those of us who are willing to donate will know what a "decent" donation would be. I don't want to donate too little, but I also don't want to over donate as I'm not even CLOSE to being a rich man.

I doubt they would do that, good idea though. There is already a lot of people who hate the paypal icons, putting a suggestion would probably cause a lot of criticism.

I just asked. They said they see anywhere from $1.00 - $25.00. So, it's pretty much up to you. It really depends on the app too, as I said before. Apps that provide services and use a lot of transfer bandwidth probably deserve over $5.00 (at the least), where as games and other such apps that are available should get around $1.00 (at the least) or more. But in that case, you are donating more for their time, than for the actual app, or their expenses.

But again, these are just my opinions.

[Rbrayton]

I have no problem with the suggested donation amount on some apps. I also have no problem with the idea of donations to give devs. incentive to keep going and make things better.

The only issue I have stumbled into.. (only once) is a dev that I donated too that is indicating they plan to move this to the palm app and the final version is going to be downloaded there for a fee. I have some issue with that being the those of us in early not only donated to fund the development, but also gave feedback to help them develop a better app. It may be a logistics thing, but sucks to thing the final version can not be leaked out to those that donated and offered key improvements.

Overall, however, that situation does not appear to be the case.

[kingjain]

Originally Posted by Rbrayton

I have no problem with the suggested donation amount on some apps. I also have no problem with the idea of donations to give devs. incentive to keep going and make things better.

The only issue I have stumbled into.. (only once) is a dev that I donated too that is indicating they plan to move this to the palm app and the final version is going to be downloaded there for a fee. I have some issue with that being the those of us in early not only donated to fund the development, but also gave feedback to help them develop a better app. It may be a logistics thing, but sucks to thing the final version can not be leaked out to those that donated and offered key improvements.

Overall, however, that situation does not appear to be the case.

I couldn't agree with you more. Apps/Devs that ask for donations should keep their apps free...