Ooma Forums

Proverbs 1:32 -- Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. This seems to apply to the introducers of all these basically useless fads.

Huh? Your babble is pretty funny but there is still a huge market out there to grab on to. WP7 now is aproaching 17,000 apps it's not a fad it's a preference, That would suck if there was JUST vanilla ice cream. Ooma please make a WP7 app,

jevonjackson wrote:Ooma needs to jump in on that action.

I missed the explanation of why Ooma needs to do that.

Here's my hand, going over your head. You'll never get it, Why are you on the WP7 thread anyway you should be in church.

You still haven't explained what benefit you think would accrue to Ooma from, as you call it, "jumping in on that action". Ooma, of course, doesn't need to do that at all.

I get it, you hate WP7 and Diversity. We all have our own opinions and you definitely have yours. "Quoting the bible." It's still a nich market I agree but why alienate a market when you dont have to, embrace it. Maybe you should "Jump into the action of getting a life." Have a valid point and we'll all listen.

No; I don't hate WP7, or dislike it even mildly. Nor have I any particular emotions, either way, about diversity. I just don't know any reason why Ooma, or anyone else, ought to waste development, marketing, and distribution costs on something that likely doesn't present much prospect for profit.

That doesn't mean there isn't a reason why they ought to do that -- it means just what it says, which is that if there is such a reason I don't know it. As far as I can tell, you think there is a reason; that's why I asked you what that reason is. But either (a) you don't know what it is either, or (b) you know but choose to keep it a secret, or (c) your gifts do not include the ability to explain it in writing. Of course, there is always the possibility that you actually don't really think there's a good reason either and are just griping.

I don't plan to get into a flame war with you, though you seem to seek one by using the argumentum ad hominem to the exclusion of all other kinds of persuasion; and I don't know what objection you find in bible quotations from an atheist like me, but that's your business. And certainly I can't imagine what diversity has to do with WP7, with Ooma, or with either of us.

I'd welcome your rational suasion; but personal remarks, attributing to me positions that I do not hold, are a poor substitute. I wish you well.

I have WP7 and love it, I too have requested for an Ooma app for it, hopefully they will bring it at some not too distant point in the future.

It's an interesting subject, to me at least. I'm going to attempt quantification of the decision to do this or not. I'm hampered by a lack of knowledge, so I must make many assumptions.

(1)
Assume that there are 3 million WP7s in the hands of consumers. There are (very roughly) about 300 million people in the USA, so about 1% of Americans have WP7s.

(2)
Assume that there are 500,000 Ooma users in the USA, and a negligible number (fewer than 1000?) elsewhere. If the figures in (1) and in (2) are mutually random, then about 5,000 Ooma users have WP7. Probably they're not truly mutually random -- people with one will have at least a little more tendency to acquire the other, for geeks are geeks -- probably they're not quite mutually random, so let's assume 10,000 (instead of 5000) Americans have both Ooma and WP7.

(3)
What fraction of those who have both can be expected to want to use them together? Let's assume 75%, which to me would seem high; so the market would be 7500 purchasers for an Ooma-WP7 app.

(4)
I have considerable professional experience managing software development, so I feel quite confident in predicting that developing an app would cost at minimum one man-year, probably many times that, but assume one man-year (perhaps four people in various roles for three months). The loaded cost for these employees will be, in today's market, at least $200,000. Add to this the cost of management; of marketing; of distribution; and of support, and it's easy to go over a million bucks. Let's assume half a million, and multiply it by four (profit for Ooma, profit for the distribution chain, and support). That factor of four is a lowball figure. Then we've spent $2,000,000 to bring it to market.

(5)
If we are to recoup the costs and make the minimum profit that I've built into the figures, and if every single one of our 7500 potential customers makes the purchase, then the sale price must be $2,000,000 divided by 7500, or $266.67. With sales tax, that's about $280 most places.

(6)
Will it sell?

(7)
My assumptions are very fuzzy; I could easily be off by a factor of at least three. I'm more likely low than high, but I could be high. If my result is high by a factor of three, the consumer's cost would be only $93.33. Again, will it sell? I have no idea; I'm an engineer, manager, and consultant; not a marketer. Well, I was. Now I'm just an old retired guy with too much time on his hands.

Yea but, what about diversity?