Final Draft Writer for iPad

[InklingBooks]

I’m not a screenwriter, but those who transfer their Scrivener drafts to Final Draft for formatting may be delighted to know that there’s now an iPad version. The review is here:

macworld.com/article/1168361 … d_app.html

Here’s a short description:

Indeed, the $30 Writer has quite a few features packed in: You can open any Final Draft 8 script within the app; create new Screenplay, Stageplay, and TV scripts; scan through automatically-paginated screenplays; use Final Draft’s SmartType system to automatically fill in character names and scene headings; view cast, scene, and location reports; lock pages; view and switch revisions; and more.

Scrivener also drew mention:

Final Draft is currently on sale for $30, though that will raise to $50 on October 1. “I’m rooting for Final Draft (and Scrivener, and Movie Magic Screenwriter),” August told us, “because I want to make sure there’s always a market for high-end professional screenwriting apps. The race to the bottom in software pricing is dangerous.”

This news makes me more excited than ever to see Scrivener come to the iPad. Mine needs to become more than a consumption tool.

[Zulithe]

$50 for an ipad word processor… for that price it better come with a free key for the upcoming Final Draft 9. Ugh.

There is nothing dangerous about lower prices. They make up the difference (and then some) in volume. I guess nobody in the software industry outside of Valve has ever heard a word Gabe Newell has said?

[KB]

@Zulithe

There is nothing dangerous about lower prices. They make up the difference (and then some) in volume. I guess nobody in the software industry outside of Valve has ever heard a word Gabe Newell has said?

Whilst I’m not sure about the $50 price tag for FD for iPad (purely because I can’t think of any other iPad apps that cost that much), there’s nothing wrong with higher prices, either. It depends on your business model and your target user base. Games are a completely different industry - they are much more likely to make up for lower prices in volume. A niche application could easily drop its price and gain very little in volume. On the Mac and iOS, the problem is that Apple has started to set a precedent of low prices, but of course they are in the business of pushing hardware, not software, so can afford to sell software at low prices to attract hardware users… (Of course, as a user, I love low prices! )

[Vermonter17032]

I don’t love low prices for software. If I value the application, I want and expect to pay a reasonable price for it. That’s the only way to ensure that development continues. The idea that all software needs to cost less than $10 is idiotic, and yet I continually see comments (not necessarily here, where the commenters are much more intelligent) slamming developers who dare to get a fair price for all their hard work and ingenuity. I believe that Keith has hit the right balance.

[chantun]

The problem with pricing in the iPad is that there’s no trial period. Anything above $10 to me “feels” too much for a product that I can only know by reviews, reputation or screenshots.