Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Learn from the Apple App Store


Just a little bit more on working for free.

Apps on the iPhone are pretty damn cheap. Many are free. Some fantastic ones are free actually. But invariably the free ones have much more one-star ratings (or even no-star if that's possible). This happens no matter how good the app may be.

Often, the more expensive an app is, the fewer one-star ratings it gets.


People pay for things they value. But it works the other way around too -

We value that which we pay for.


So, on the app store, it's easy to see how that works. People download a free app, load it up for thirty seconds (if even), don't instantly get hooked and then delete it, which hitting it with a one-star rating. If they've paid a tenner for that app, it becomes worth their time to really try the app out, get used to it, see if it has more to offer than it appears on the surface. By dumping it too early, they could miss out and lose the investment they put in to pay for it in the first place.

The same is true for employment.

If someone has invested even a week's wages on you, they'll be more likely to put the time into teaching you what you need to know. More likely to pay attention to what you do. More likely to look for the value you bring.

Less likely to give you that one-star rating.


And less likely to dump your sorry ass out on the streets.

3 comments:

Red Pill Junkie said...

Good point.

I remember I was once catching a few segments of a Jennifer Aniston movie —didn't watch it whole, don't worry; she's prettier than Jolie, though, IMO— in which she works for some advertising company; and the boss explains to her that the reason sh doesn't get a promotion is because she lives cheaply —'like you were still in college' was the phrase— so that made the boss nervous of passing the accounts of bigger clients to her; according to him, that lifestyle didn't make her dependent enough of the job, so there was the risk she could run away to a rival agency taking all the clients with her.

So the moral of the story was: get in debt, buy a Porsche and you'll climb the ladder (?).

Re. the free apps, there should be some endorsement from a third party we respect. We do the same with movies and books.

susan said...

Too many things going on my head to leave a decent comment.

RPJ- Best Jennifer Aniston movie- "Office Space". Lovely office satire. Loved the taking sledge hammer to office cubbies. I hate office cubbies.

Regarding non paid interns, this song on the radio as I write this- "Money for nothing and chicks for free".

I love the way the universe throws things in my face sometimes, no?

Oh and regarding the Porsche, I will pass on that but take a Jaguar. Welcome my son to the machine.

Andy Latham said...

Excellent point!