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- Thread starter GasBot
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GasBot
Member
Hey, I've seen this once before where that page somehow gets cached on the phone. The other user uninstalled and reinstalled the app and it cleared everything up. If you don't want to do this, send me an e-mail at chris [at] gasbot [dot] net and I'll see what I can do to help you troubleshoot it. Another option might be to just reboot the phone.
GasBot
Member
I'm trying to partner up with some data providers in the UK, but they're being extremely unresponsive. They told me that they basically wanted 55,000 pounds a year for access to their DB, and when I countered back with a rev share instead they just stopped responding. I'm going to try contacting someone else through there and see if I can make any more progress.
GasBot
Member
Yep.
meltyblood913
Newbie
Man I cant believe you made this app 7 bucks it was nice when it was free you shot yourself in the foot man everyone almost uninstalled this now considering you made it free at first.
i dont support greedy devs maybe you ought to fix the bugs and make shure its 100% bug free before you charge half the dev dont charge yet.
it was a nice app but now everyone is writing comments on there g1s i gave it a 4 star now back to 1 like evryone else.
im sory but i dont support greedy devs.
i dont support greedy devs maybe you ought to fix the bugs and make shure its 100% bug free before you charge half the dev dont charge yet.
it was a nice app but now everyone is writing comments on there g1s i gave it a 4 star now back to 1 like evryone else.
im sory but i dont support greedy devs.
GasBot
Member
Sorry man, but it was never free. The problem was that Google sets a ridiculous 325 character max for the description and I needed all of it to explain bug fixes for those leaving crappy ratings because of bugs they encountered. You'll notice that it clearly states that it's a trial in both the name and description now.
The fact of the matter is that the data for this is extremely expensive. Not to mention the dedicated servers required to handle the requests from tens of thousands of users. After PayPal and the data providers take their cuts, I make a little over a dollar per subscription to try and pay for servers. I'd hardly call that being a "greedy dev."
Unless you want to come out of pocket for all of that so I can offer it for free for everyone else, anyone wanting to use it longer than two weeks is going to have to pay their share.
if everyone expects to get everything for free... GOODBYE ANDROID
GasBot
Member
Exactly. Unfortunately Google's marketing touting everything being "open source" and "free" has screwed developers over. Now everyone thinks that open source is synonymous with free and they don't want to pay for an app.
GasBot
Member
Not unless you want to go out and raise venture capital yourself. The only other option is to enter and win the Google Android Developer Challenge and Google will give you some money depending on how far you make it through the contest.
Other than that, there's no money out there to spawn an free app environment.
How is Gasbot being greedy? He's asking for $7 per year for his app, and that is cheap in my book. My average lunch is $10, so if you can't spend $7 on his app then you're the greedy one in my opinion.
Bottom line: If you think $7 is too much money for this app, then don't buy it. If you think it's valuable and worth the cost, then buy and and enjoy. Giving the app a "1" star rating because it isn't free is just idiotic.
justjimjpc
Premium Member
I am surprise that you are that foolish when this program can save you probably $1 to $3 per fillup ... the program pays for itself in a few times to the gas station ... I dont even own a car anymore and still find it worth the $7/year to help out friends when I ride with them or i use a ZipCar or FlexCar to save money ... and Besides it is one app that you can quickly see says you money as well as be nice and useful ...
Are you saying that I'm foolish? All I did was ask a simple question out of curiosity. I don't think that is foolish...
justjimjpc
Premium Member
Sorry it was "meltyblood913" that i meant to quote and to say was foolish ...
I am surprised "meltyblood913" that you are that foolish when this program can save you probably $1 to $3 per fillup ... the program pays for itself in a few times to the gas station ... I dont even own a car anymore and still find it worth the $7/year to help out friends when I ride with them or i use a ZipCar or FlexCar to save money ... and Besides it is one app that you can quickly see says you money as well as being really nice and useful ...
Phases
NO LONGER ADMIN
Gasp. -1 internet points for you!
First, as mentioned before, it was never free. Second.. greedy? What's wrong with you (!) ...
You have any idea what it costs to develop, provide, and properly maintain any public service like this? I dare you to give it a try. Good luck.
Seems to me like the greedy ones are people unwilling to pay 58.3 CENTS PER MONTH for an app of this caliber.
Edit: and furthermore, good luck finding any halfway complex program - that deals with constantly changing variables and that goes on a device where I'll bet no two are going to be the exact same - and be 100% bug free.
If I could give you 1 star for giving his app 1 star because of the price that was always there, I would.
GasBot
Member
Thank you, I know you feel my pain as you provide this forum for all of us to use! Thank you for that.
Anyways, yeah between data licensing fees and PayPal fees, my measly dollar that goes towards servers isn't exactly allowing me to live in the lap of luxury. I'm actually developing a port for the BlackBerry platform now hoping that they'll be a little more receptive to this type of application. After I'm done with that one, I'm going to kick out some new features for the G1 again.
Paranoid
Newbie
Hey Chris, great app. Emailed with you a few times about it not working... but I'm back up and running - and I just came in here to suggest the same feature justjimjpc suggested...
I think the easiest method would be to parse either the www.fueleconomy.gov website, or to make a spreadsheet that you "manually" parsed the information, and people could enter their car's make, model and year, and compare it to not only the reported MPG but also other anonymous users with the same vehicle (Like, your 2009 Honda Accord is 50% more effecient than other 2009 Honda Accords, 75% more effecient than all other users on GasBot).
Then users could enter their data, such as odometer reading to start using the application, and then subsequent readings and how much gas they filled up with, and narrow in on the "real" MPGs.
Once you have that, comparing distance to MPGs and potential savings for driving to station #2 or #3 because they're closer but $.01 more expensive than station #1, depending on the amount of gas purchased.
I think the easiest method would be to parse either the www.fueleconomy.gov website, or to make a spreadsheet that you "manually" parsed the information, and people could enter their car's make, model and year, and compare it to not only the reported MPG but also other anonymous users with the same vehicle (Like, your 2009 Honda Accord is 50% more effecient than other 2009 Honda Accords, 75% more effecient than all other users on GasBot).
Then users could enter their data, such as odometer reading to start using the application, and then subsequent readings and how much gas they filled up with, and narrow in on the "real" MPGs.
Once you have that, comparing distance to MPGs and potential savings for driving to station #2 or #3 because they're closer but $.01 more expensive than station #1, depending on the amount of gas purchased.
GasBot
Member
Yeah I really need to get on the data logging portions of this app. I'm trying to think up some more useful pieces of information I can calculate from the data logged besides just MPG. Maybe like some way to show driving patterns (amount driven compared to price of gas?), but I'm not sure that that's really useful information.
Thank you, I know you feel my pain as you provide this forum for all of us to use! Thank you for that.
Anyways, yeah between data licensing fees and PayPal fees, my measly dollar that goes towards servers isn't exactly allowing me to live in the lap of luxury. I'm actually developing a port for the BlackBerry platform now hoping that they'll be a little more receptive to this type of application. After I'm done with that one, I'm going to kick out some new features for the G1 again.
Excellent news... I manage about 30 BB's in my company and I can say that my users would be interested in a BB port. Let me know if you want some testers.
GasBot
Member
I absolutely will! Which devices are you guys using? I'm building this thing with the Pearl in mind just because that's about the smallest screen I can think of and scaling up is much easier than scaling down. If you have the Curve or something with a larger screen it'd be great to see how it works on there as well.
Please send me an e-mail at chris [at] gasbot [dot] net (sorry, started getting spam already so I'm trying to cut down on putting my linkable e-mail address on public places) and I'll flag it so I can let you know directly when a BB port is available.
markinct
Newbie
1) I know a couple of crackberry users who would jump at the chance for gasBot...
2) The idjits who are complaining about the exorbitant subscription price of $7.00 are fools. While a point may be made about fee while the client is in beta, I think it's a non-starter as well.
I just posted a comment and dropped a 5 start rating - just trying to counterbalance the small minded cry-babies.
2) The idjits who are complaining about the exorbitant subscription price of $7.00 are fools. While a point may be made about fee while the client is in beta, I think it's a non-starter as well.
I just posted a comment and dropped a 5 start rating - just trying to counterbalance the small minded cry-babies.
GasBot
Member
Thanks, and if I could've left off the charges while in Beta I definitely would have, but the contracts with the data providers state that I can't give longer than 14 days worth of trial. You have no idea how long the contract I had to sign with them was.
DarkTLRrider
Well-Known Member
Hey Chris I have a question. If I pay for the app and then say I have my phone replaced or have to do a factory reset, would I have to pay for the app again when I download it?