Personally, I think the pricing issue is related to the web app issue from the parent comment.
Even as a free iOS app, there is the $99/year Apple Developer fee, on top of any server costs.
Meanwhile, a web app can be used by anyone on any device, and if designed properly, can be hosted for free on a number of platforms.
If the goal is to make money from casual users, an indie iOS app is the move.
... But that would not fly for what I presume to be a very large fraction of the HN audience that lives and breathes code. What could have been an interesting and tweakable open source project built in a weekend, sold as a closed untweakable app at a $20/year subscription, only for iPhones? That would certainly be quite a bold sell.
Yes, because that is exactly how American cities are currently built today -- expensive carbon-intensive roads paved out to sprawling suburbs, the independent financial upkeep of which is not sustainable long-term. [0]
The costs for car-based infrastructure are also sky high: $1+ million per mile of new road, excluding constant maintenance in repavings, potholes, and drainage systems. [1]
From an economic lens, transportation infrastructure is a net gain to the economy. To me, there is no reason why public transit subsidies should be scrutinized on financials above and beyond how public roads are scrutinized.
If we recognize roads are useful, then public transit should be an even more efficient use of taxpayer dollars on mobility per infrastructure footprint costs alone -- even before carbon reductions are considered at all.
It is free and opensource, but there are different parts to it if you selfhost. Synapse is the Matrix server backend, and Element is the UI (web/mobile app). [0]
ESS is a paid, fully managed service by the Element team for ease of use.
That sounds proportionate to me. They get to make profits, and I get to use their improvements if they also benefit me.
This can foster more community than if MIT code were to be taken and locked behind closed doors, for profit and to no benefit for the devs that made it possible.
Even as a free iOS app, there is the $99/year Apple Developer fee, on top of any server costs.
Meanwhile, a web app can be used by anyone on any device, and if designed properly, can be hosted for free on a number of platforms.
If the goal is to make money from casual users, an indie iOS app is the move.
... But that would not fly for what I presume to be a very large fraction of the HN audience that lives and breathes code. What could have been an interesting and tweakable open source project built in a weekend, sold as a closed untweakable app at a $20/year subscription, only for iPhones? That would certainly be quite a bold sell.