Comments on: Black’s Law Dictionary Application for the iPhone and iPod Touch

By: Well i'LL B

Well i'LL B — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:26:17 +0000

why would I want to spend time utilizing these sub par applications on a tiny little phone screen when I’m in front of my computer with a 24 inch monitor all day anyway

Why would you comment on the viability of an iPhone app if you're in front of your computer all day? That's like a vegetarian commenting on the latest hamburger choices. Some people are very mobile and need to eat hamburgers.

I think West made a wise move at this price point. You can always lower the the price but you will be hard pressed to raise it. Give it a few weeks and if there is very little penetration then the price will come down. If there are a lot of buyers then it's win-win and West et al will be encouraged to develop new titles. I think Connie nailed it with the idea of bundling the app with the print.

By: Law on the street

Law on the street — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:53:48 +0000

All these I-phone apps are quite annoying. Really, why would I want to spend time utilizing these sub par applications on a tiny little phone screen when I'm in front of my computer with a 24 inch monitor all day anyway….Seriously, it's way too gimicky.

By: Steven Matthews

Steven Matthews — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:12:11 +0000

I think they missed the price point too. As Connie points out, a firm that spends a couple hundred on legal dictionaries isn't going to increase their budget to thousands just because we are now able to tether a digital copy to a smart phone. If you price the two products they same, value judgements will be made, and it forces an either-or situation, rather than the possibility of selling both formats.

I think West could have skipped the whole 'firm budget' equation and moved this purchase into being a personal expense just by moving the price point below $30. Had they lowered the price to a discretionary level, many lawyers would skip the firm paying altogether and picked up the bill themselves.

The key, and this is just my personal opinion, is to create a new non-competing market. West is better off long term with $25 apps on every lawyer's smart phone, over shared copies of print dictionaries. Plus if firms aren't picking up the tab for these, they will still see value in keeping a few print copies around – and West in turn, doesn't disrupt the original market for the short term.

By: Connie Crosby

Connie Crosby — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:45:18 +0000

What I am saying is the iPhone version should be priced a lot lower if they are going to seriously sell it in this format.

By: Simon Fodden

Simon Fodden — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:12:17 +0000

Connie, that's US$49.99 a copy. They're selling it for essentially the same price as the print copy.

By: Connie Crosby

Connie Crosby — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:22:07 +0000

With regard to pricing, they can have two or three hard copies in a firm's library for $67 each, or they can have copies on each of the lawyer's iPhones (and presumably Blackberry at some point) for $4.99 each. And likely both. I don't see that undercutting the value.

By: Lawrence Gridin

Lawrence Gridin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:21:59 +0000

Yeah, but when is Black's coming to BlackBerry?

By: Lawnix

Lawnix — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:57:18 +0000

“The idea that you can have a very full, elaborate, complex and richly textured book like Black’s available at your fingertips is fantastic.”

This is probably the first time Black's Law Dictionary has ever been described as "elaborate", "complex", or "richly textured". And to think that each of these firsts come all together in a single sentence. Should we only consider this to be two firsts, since the use of both "elaborate" and "complex" is redundant?

By: Simon Chester

Simon Chester — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:43:01 +0000

This is the classic legal publishers' dilemma, first described by Mary Pigott in The cost of computer-assisted legal research back in 1988, and which I thought Martin Felsky had written on earlier: How do I price an electronic product so that it doesn't undercut the market for print. Black's Law Dictionary is priced at $67, $58 (abridged) and $108 (deluxe), so work it out for yourselves what would have happened at a Ipod Song price.

By: Jennifer Walker

Jennifer Walker — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:45:00 +0000

$50.00 is mighty steep. I feel like the iPhone is still relatively rare in the legal world – at least, I'm the only person ever using an iPhone in my library. Since I've started in the field, I can only remember seeing two other iPhones – one on an articling student, the other on a judge. Part of this could be because it's still relatively new technology in Canada, but I also see a lot of attachment to the Blackberry. I'm very interested to see what other apps for the iPhone/iTouch will be coming out for legal research. And oh my, what the cost will be!

By: Connie Crosby

Connie Crosby — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:06:23 +0000

Thanks for the image–I was going to try it out until I saw the steep cost! If it had been $4.99 I would have tried it out. Which makes me think they have missed the mark on the pricing. Who is going to pay $50?