The iPhone cannibal

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2138645

by innernode • 16 years ago

1 3 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

How do you make an iPhone app that doesn't cannibalize its original business: an address and phone lookup service that earns its money on incoming calls?

_0ffh2• 16 years ago

- Forced registration + pay-per-use - Forced re-installation (+payment) after a set number of successful uses - Forced registration after a set number of successful uses Have a little brainstorming session and you will likely come up with a plethora of other possible implementation schemes... =)

innernode• 16 years ago

Thanks for your insights - but the main problem isn't for the app to make money, it is to generate calls to the call centre helping them grow their business. This is quite a challenge when users know they can get the answers they need in the iPhone app itself without calling the call centre for them..

_0ffh2• 16 years ago

Oh, I see! This is a real problem. Maybe the app could provide a neat user interface for framing a request, then send it as a text message to the call center, which then sends the answer back to the app.

I know this sounds contrived, but it seems to me the only way to not cannibalize the call centre is to not duplicate its functionality. The only thing left after taking the actual functionality away is the presentation, i.e. the user interface. So you can choose to use the call centre with the traditional interface (speaking on the phone) or the new app interface (that helps frame the question and later delivers the result).

The iPhone cannibal

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