Screen Size and Money

Dave DeLong tweeted:

Hypothesis: we place a monetary value on apps that strongly correlates to the size of the screen they run on

And:

I’m thinking based on device class:
⌚️ = $0
📱= single digit $
iPad = low double digit $
💻 = double digit $
📺 = double digit $ (guess)

My hypothesis is different from Dave’s. There’s a loose corollary between screen size and how people value software, yes.

But instead it works like this: the more productivity a device enables, the more people value the software.

And, while iOS devices continue to allow for more and more productivity — see the iPad Pro, multi-tasking, and so on — the Mac is still by far the best device for productivity.

It’s not just because Mac screen sizes tend to be larger, though there is that. That’s just one of a whole bunch of reasons that Macs still make for better productivity.

So I don’t expect Apple TV to be in the double digit range. I expect it to be the same as iPhone apps.

(Note that I’m talking about productivity apps solely. In the worlds of games and entertainment and diversions things may be different.)

(Also note that I’d love to be wrong about Apple TV.)