regarding 2) let me recap: you didn’t buy it, because of reasons. To me that still means you don’t know what you’re talking about AND you fulfill Marco Arments take that Android-users are too cheap to put their money where their mouth is

Starting at “However” I think you are getting off topic. We were talking about whether Arment called Android-users cheap and if they are or aren’t, not whether Android is a platform worth developing for. Apparently the Instapaper for Android developers thought it was. Case closed.

The question remains whether Arment would be able to make a living off of the Android version and arguably he wouldn’t since last time I checked his revenue was miniscule and he has to share it with the developer of the Android-version. And since you don’t want to pay for the App, not even for testing it out and finding out whether all the stuff you talk about is true or not, again, like I said before, you fulfill all the things he said about Android.

If you were really that much a fan of the platform and if you were really interested in finding out whether the iOS version and the Android version are comparable, you would get an iOS device and buy both versions on both platforms.

Which is what I (!) did. I was interested in the Android platform and I wanted to know if it’s as good as iOS or not. I think it is.

You on the other hand are obviously too cheap to do that. *snicker*

1. If you took a knife and ended someone’s life, to me, you are a killer. You can claim “oh, I am not a killer, I only performed the action of killer” but I see no functional difference and I just think that you are just playing with words here.

2. I gave you plenty of reasons why I did not think that the Instapaper for Android app was worth buying. Instead of rebutting or challenging those reasons, you chose to use a straw man by calling me a pirate. I think that it the height of intellectual dishonesty in an argument. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

3. I may be a fan of Android but I am not stupid or blind enough to claim that there aren’t differences in the Google Play Store and the iTunes Store that can have a large effect on the attractiveness of each marketplace. You are probably correct to assume that there is a large portion of Android phones that are pretty much used as smartphones. You are also probably correct in that the typical iPhone owner probably has more disposable income than the typical Android user. Certainly, the iTunes store is available in more countries than the Google Play Store and that can definitely affect sales potential.

However, I would also point out two things. First, I would argue that there is a difference between whether or not an OS is good for developers or whether that OS is good for users and I think that Marco Arment often wrongly conflates those two together. Second, while it is certainly possible that the Google Play Store is a “less attractive market” than the iTunes Store, I think that there are also plenty of reasons that one can think of to disprove or refute some of the evidence that is provided against such data.

Let me give you an example of something that might play into both points. I remember reading an article somewhere saying that some of the most expensive categories of apps that were being sold on the iTunes app store in large quantities were GPS turn-by-turn navigation apps. Is it possible that because until recently, iOS did not have built-in turn-by-turn navigation functionality built-in, scores of people bought these expensive apps and therefore drove up the profitability of the iTunes app store in comparison to the Google Play Store because Android has had a great build-in turn-by-turn navigation system since Android 2.0? One can certainly argue that iOS was a better ecosystem for GPS and travel app developers because of this discrepancy but I would argue that the fact that Android has a great built-in GPS navigation system, while harmful to said developers, is better for the end user.

Ultimately, the biggest problem with much of the logic of these arguments is that I have not seen heard of an example where a developer launched on both platforms with equivalent quality products and found a significant difference between the two stores. Last I checked, Draw Something, which pretty much launched on both platforms at the same time, performed well on both Android and iOS. The problem is that so many times, the typical story is that like Marco Arment did with Instapaper on Android, the person launches on iOS first and then releases an Android version that isn’t as good as the iOS version a year or more after the fact. In such a scenario, I just don’t see how the developer should expect to make money.

I was thinking about this recently when “Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP” launched on Android this November. Regardless of the game’s quality I just find it hard to believe that this game can make money because I would think that the vast majority of people who would want to play this game already played it either two years ago when it was launched on iOS or earlier last year when it was released on Steam for Windows. In such a scenario, how can one expect the Android version of the game to really do well? Yet this is a very common scenario with iOS developers that try to pivot to Android and whereas I would argue that the blame is with the developer’s late entry, I think that Marco Arment would try to blame it on Android and its users, as he did in this case with Instapaper.

Simply put, I am just not convinced that, had we lived in some alternate universe where Marco Arment decided to start Instapaper years ago primarily on Android first, he would not be able to make as much as he is making now. It’s just impossible to tell. But Marco Arment is trying to do that and, as I said, what I think is worse is that he is trying to tie together his skewed view of how Android is for developers with the question of whether Android is good in general, which I think is intellectually bankrupt.

Because if you tell me five things that make me look like an Idiot yet you know that I am a A student that means that I am not an idiot PER SE but rather when it comes to THOSE FIVE ASPECTS I am acting like one.

Are we getting closer? Do you understand what I mean?

Arment tries his best to convey that he does not think that Android users are cheap, that he thinks that the userbase just behaves like cheapskates.

is it really that hard to understand? I told you in one of my first replies that the way you are listing reasons for not buying Instapaper it makes you sound like the people who pirate everything and simply come up with reason after reason to legitimize their actions so they can say “I AM NOT A PIRATE”.

People who download “A Game of Thrones” for instance. I mean it’s just an example but let me put it to you this way – let’s just assume something here. Just a wild guess. Between you and me. My guess is that you know what Bittorrent is. My guess is that you once in a while get a TV show you missed or simply can’t get or that hasn’t been released on DVD yet via Bittorrent.

Which would make you a pirate.

No matter how much you point to the “Lord of the Rings” DVDs on the shelf left or right of you.

Yet when it comes to “being cheap”, which describes someone who isn’t willing to pay for anything as long as he can get it cheaper or get a substitute elsewhere with a drawback, that is not what Arment tries to describe. He knows that a large portion of Android users simply use their phones as dumbphones for instance, not ever visiting the Play Store at all. Or that they get their phone for 1 Dollar on conract compared to the 300 or 400 dollar an iPhone costs on contract, meaning that they are most likely on a completely different tier of income, meaning that they most likely only earn a fourth of what the iPhone buyer makes. Or that they live in a country that simply doesn’t offer the Play Store at all. OR OR OR OR OR.

Which doesn’t make the user CHEAP PER SE but it frakking doesn’t matter because all that matters for the programmer of the App is THE FRIGGING BOTTOM LINE. If there’s no revenue he can’t pay taxes, health ensurance, the servers etc. etc.

Arment runs a one man shop. He hasn’t taken on venture capital and if the examples of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, who sell their users eyeballs to advertisers, isn’t enough for you, then I can’t help you.

All Arment does is describe that users on Android are quaking like ducks and you get riled up that he does that.

Quak quak quak quak quak. And as a result you are offended because you think of yourself as a swan.

That’s like me saying: “I’m not saying you are stupid, I am just saying that you are an idiot and unintelligent.”

Let’s just say we have a different opinion of what words mean. Like “per se”.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/per_se

It’s the same as your understanding of me saying “You sound like someone who pirates software”.

Or what “literally” means.

I really get the feeling that English isn’t your first language. I mean it isn’t mine either but honestly this is getting ridiculous.

if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck I guess to you that means it’s a horse as long as it doesn’t have feathers.

I argued that Instapaper for Android is simply not worthwhile compared to the competition for anyone who is not locked into Instapaper for iOS and instead of arguing otherwise with specifics, you accused me of not having the information to make that claim without knowing anything about me and you then insinuated that I was just lying about being willing to buy apps and that I am a pirate.

Perhaps it is this last point that is the reason why you simply aren’t willing to see and realize that Marco Arment has trash talked Android and its users to a degree and intensity where it is perfectly understandable why people might not want to buy his app, regardless of its merits. I’ll accept for now your claim that Marco Arment did not say the words “Android users are cheap” (although I am fairly sure that he has at some point) given that I am not willing to listen through all of Marco Arment’s podcast appearances just to prove this. But regardless, Marco Arment definitely used insinuation to all but say that, and using lawyering of words to give himself an out in case he was called out on it, in the same way that you used insinuation to all but say that I was a pirate but are now claiming that you didn’t.

When Marco Arment says: “It’s a very common user mindset: they tolerate a lot of limitations, ads, and nags to avoid paying. It’s not that they’re cheap, per se: they just really don’t believe that apps are worth paying for, and they feel cheated or defeated if they end up needing to pay for one.,” which pretty much says that such users are in fact cheap, and then later in the article suggest “Maybe a significantly larger percentage of Android users insist on free apps than iOS users (it certainly seems that way).,” it’s not hard to combine this bit of information with Marco Arment’s constant dismissals of Android and its users and realize that he is calling Android users cheap. (http://www.marco.org/2012/04/24/might-upgrade-someday)

When Marco Arment talks about how the market for a paid quality App.net client by talking about how the users are “big-spending…early adopters” who will pay “good money” for a premium quality app and then ends the blog with an unrelated dig at Android “See also: why developers tend to make so much more money on iOS than on Android, despite the Android installed base being significantly larger.,” it’s not hard to see why Android fans are insulted and it’s not hard to see how Marco Arment just called Android users cheap and undiscerning of quality. (http://www.marco.org/2012/09/06/developer-math)

When you end a section in your blog marked “Undesirable customers” talking about customers that give bad reviews to apps and don’t want to pay for apps with “(This is also a major reason why I have no plans to enter the Android market.),” it’s not hard to see what he is saying about Android users. (http://www.marco.org/2011/04/28/removed-instapaper-free)

Finally, when Marco Arment releases a dumbed-down product years late into a market which he has trashed and continues to trash and then responds to its poor performance with “I said for years that I didn’t think Android would be very profitable. Then I tried it. I was right. What part was arrogant?” it is obvious that he is just out to get Android and blaming Android instead of his choice to delay his entry by years. (https://twitter.com/marcoarment/status/291341809580400640)

Marco Arment can choose to claim that he doesn’t hate Android but that claim goes against the evidence of what he has said and written.

Next time you talk to me, address my points instead of resorting to straw man arguments.

Sorry but there’s so much wrong with your comment I don’t really consider it to be worth talking to you anymore. Just a few hints

1.) Arment never said that Android users are cheap. Not ONCE. Not on his 108 episode podcast, not on his blog. Just like the article you fail to proove that and just make stuff up
2.) Saying you act like a pirate doesn’t even mean I accused you of piracy. What’s next? I tell you you act like an idiot in this discussion and you show me your highschool diploma?

Sorry but you are clearly argumentally challenged. You both fail to understand what I argue and you fail to understand what constitutes a good counter-argument. It’s as if I was talking to someone about the weather and have to explain the principle of sunshine.

So excuse me but I’m not going to further this any longer. I feel as if I am taking candy away from a child.

So while you launch an ad hominem attack on me, accusing me of piracy, I just wanted to let you know that it is dangerous to assume things and you couldn’t be more wrong about me here. I buy things that I like and I am even more than willing to buy it twice or more if there are reasons. I won’t even buy used video games on principle because I want my money to go to the developers. Granted, technically you are right to call me a pirate though because I dressed up as Captain Hook one year for Halloween. I am more than willing to open up my wallet and shell out money if said product or cause is worth me doing so.

Simply put, I don’t think that Marco Arment deserves my money. In my initial post, I made it clear that I disagreed with a great many of his points on Android, I did not like the type of discourse he uses in his punditry don’t like that he cherry-picks evidence to prove his points so I fail to see how I made an ad hominem attack. In a response elsewhere in this article, I elaborated on what I felt was a massive hole in his reasoning, i.e. which is that much of his “proof” seems to be examples where an iOS developer enters Android very late and does not make money because of competition that was not late. If I did not go into further details it is because I did not want to make my responses too long, like this one. If you want to debate specific points of his and get into more details of my dislike of his ideas, then let’s do it.

With regards to Instapaper, I made it very clear to you that I think there is a valid and understandable reason why people who use Instapaper elsewhere and are already locked in would be justified in picking up Instapaper on Android. I am sure that you and the other iOS to Android converters have done so and are happy. However, I do not think that Marco Arment entered Android to please converters (a recent Twitter post of his suggests that he believes those people are few and far between) and so my points on Instapaper was talking about the rationale for an Android user who does not have a history with Instapaper to either buy it instead of use the free Pocket or switch from Pocket. I should even point out that Marco Arment himself stated that he was making the Android version to take advantage of the new people buying 7-inch Android tablets.

So you say that I don’t have any right to make a statement on Instapaper for Android because I didn’t buy it. But that’s like saying that I have no right to argue that crystal meth is bad for you because I have not tried it myself and I only have second-hand information from medical sources and journals to back up my claim. In this particular case, I should point out that I actually have Instapaper on my iPad and so I know what it is and what it has in terms of features. I am also familiar with Pocket on Android. It is true that I did not buy Instapaper for Android but I am familiar enough with the iOS version and Pocket for Android that when I read about the features that are missing and certain bugginess, I feel that I am capable of accurately judging the comparative merits of Instapaper on Android with Pocket on Android who aren’t already locked into Instapaper like you seem to be. Simply put, as of the day that Instapaper launched on Android, I really fail to see how the typical user who is not already locked into Instapaper should pick it over Pocket. To say that I don’t know enough to talk about the merits of the Android version is ridiculous.

And again, I don’t see what message I would be sending with my wallet by buying Instapaper for Android other than that I am willing to buy an app that I do not think is as good as the competition especially if I am not locked into Instapaper as part of my daily routine. I show with my wallet my willingness to pay for things I find to be worthwhile all of the time. I do not feel I need to do it for an app that I have good enough reasons to not do so just to prove a naysayer.

The point and purpose of my last sentence should be more than obvious if you don’t take it out of the context of the rest of my response and the article as a whole. The primary claim that Arment is making is that the Play Store is not good for developers and while elsewhere in this article’s responses you were pulling up stats on country availability, the crux of Arment’s claims on his podcast, Twitter, and blog is not about country availability but that this is because Android users are cheap and do not care to pay for quality. And as I illustrated, Instapaper’s performance in the Play Store does not say anything about this point because in the Android ecosystem, Instapaper is arguably not of higher quality than the competition. In the iOS world, there is plenty of disagreement on whether Pocket or Instapaper is better and in the Android world, Pocket has been here longer and addressing and working on the needs of Android users while Instapaper only just entered with an app that is less feature complete than the iOS version. So if Arment is going to claim that Instapaper not doing well on Android is proof that the Play Store sucks for developers, then I would say that the only thing it proves is that Android users are better able to detect and judge quality than iOS users.

That would be voting with your wallet.

I know it’s unfair to you and your community of people who have money readily available but quite frankly it’s kind of funny that you first attack Arment based on the way he talked about your beloved platform, because you feel he kind of talked down on you. A complete ad hominem attack. Instead of arguing his points you basically only attack HOW he says something.

You didn’t buy the Instapaper App and talk about it based on second hand information. And because you know that that is plain and straight wrong you take that bad concious for doing so and turn it around on others who actually bought Instapaper on Android – you know, people like me who actually switched over from iOS. People who actually know what they are talking about.

And the kicker? You accuse someone like me who bought Instapaper both on Android and on iOS of NOT trying out Pocket – a software that is FREE.

I mean you can’t be serious. OF COURSE I have Pocket installed and tried it out to find out if it is any better. You take that whole thing YOU didn’t do and turn it around on others. I assume because you know what you are talking about – I have to give it to you, it’s always a good idea to talk about the things you know about.

Seriously, you sound like someone who pirates movies. There’s always a reason not to buy something. Either it’s the people who are in the movie, the publisher, maybe it’s the plot or whatever. Of course you COULD put your money where your mouth is but hey, maybe the packaging would hurt your fingers when you try to open it or something.

I am still baffled by that last sentence you wrote. Buying software means that I am unable to evaluate the quality of apps. You sir are a riot.

Got it.

I and the Android fans I know are more than willing to plop down money for apps and have done it plenty of times. But as I see it, to pick up Instapaper on Android for any reason other than that you have tons of content already stored on Instapaper through previous versions simply proves that you are unable to properly evaluate the quality of apps and is willing to buy an app that is inferior to the competition.

Got it.

With that said, my point does not negate your well spoken comment. +1!