Daniel Monzelowsky did a story for Socialgeist a few days ago on how Pixelpipe, an application for uploading photos on Android, decided to start charging for their product, which had previously been free. He posted it to his FriendFeed, where immediately the Pixelpipe devs got out of their cages and started screaming at him.
First, some Pixelpipe people started yelling at Dan after he said it was pretty weird to have a free version of the program for iPhone but not for Android. And I think we can probably all agree with him. Then a Pixelpipe rep named Tracy decided to share this lovely tidbit:
You are being unreasonable. The mob of users that somehow imagined it was all a nefarious plot to screw them out of $1.99 are acting more like a mob than rational people. You weren’t forced to upgrade. Why do you assume that it was some giant bait and switch? That doesn’t even make sense. Android market share is still tiny. If we were going to attempt some sneaky bait and switch and then run away to Mexico with your 2 dollars, don’t you think we would have done it with a much larger market?
Dan’s response was that he was not accusing them of being evil, just of making dumb business decision. So Tracy responded
I did not step my foot in here to fan the flames. You directly called me a “moron”. Who is fanning the flames? I am just trying to defend myself against somebody that wants to publicly insult others in a childish manner without having to be held accountable for their words. Do you think you get to call me a moron in the Android room without a rebuttal?
First off, she was fanning the flames. Now the whole interent knows that Pixelpipe doesn’t know what it’s doing. Second, why the hell do companies go around and try to snuff out negative comments that people make about their products? I don’t care if you believe you’re infallible. Your job as a producer is to take it in stride. If you think it’s a big deal, then consider incorporating criticisms instead of throwing a public tantrum.
Take this as a learning experience, companies. Don’t vent publicly. It just makes you look like a jerk. Sure, after Dan wrote his piece, you guys finally put up a free version of your software, but that doesn’t make you correct.
