Sunday, October 18, 2009

WolframAlpha iPhone App Is a $50 Super Calculator [Wolframalpha]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/EJCU2P1-8Bs/wolframalpha-iphone-app-is-a-50-super-calculator

Even diehard WolframAlpha fans may balk slightly at the $50 asking price. Then they, like me, might balk some more as they try to figure out why a mobile version of what's in essence a free search engine costs $50.

WolframAlpha folks are billing this as a half-priced graphic calculator, with that added benefit that it plugs into the existing WolframAlpha search engine, but again I keep coming back to the fact that I can point my browser at that web site and it costs me substantially less than $50 to do so.

Said WolframAlpha rep Josh Dilworth in an email to Gizmodo today, "How many people will buy it? We're not sure, but looking at the other apps that are $50+, we think that we're of at least comparable in utility and functionality, if not more. And, part of what the company is also doing is making a statement about the non-trivial nature of WolframAlpha's capabilities, and how much the system has matured since launch."

What better way to show maturity than peg your inaugural App Store app with one of the higher price tags in the whole system. Amiright? Commenters, help a blogger out and let me know what I'd be paying a premium for if I purchased this. [App Shopper via Scoble]