Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Congress in your pocket
Having a Congressman or Congresswoman in your pocket used to mean that they owed you a big political favor that you could call in at any time. Now with Congress+ for iPhone / iPod touch from Congress In Your Pocket, the phrase has an entirely different meaning. Congress+ is designed for voters or political pros who need to have Congressional contact information at their fingertips. Not only does it have contact info, but also includes a biography, staff information, data on what committees the representative sits on, and political information including tracking polls and opponent information.
This version of the software includes yearly updates in 2009 and 2010, and sells for $9.99 in the App Store (click opens iTunes).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
adfio said 10:40AM on 9-30-2008
should be free for congress/public info!!! Plus for the good of the country...
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CJ said 3:56PM on 9-29-2008
I can't help it:
"Is that a congressman in your pocket or are..."
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marc said 4:04PM on 9-29-2008
$10!?!
just bookmark http://votesmart.org
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michaeldavidcohen said 4:27PM on 9-29-2008
CJ -- Outstanding. Very, very funny. Maybe we should use that in our marketing.
Marc, you could bookmark that site but it
(1) doesn't give you access when you don't have an Internet connection
(2) doesn't have correct and updated information all the time (Joe Lieberman's Chief of Staff recently resigned, many candidates are just plain wrong)
(3) doesn't give you iPhone Google map links to the office locations
(4) won't allow you to email key staffers directly. Often they are more accessible than the standard webform and are tracking what constituents think -- like on this $700B bailout.
(5) we are launching a $1.99 version that will not provide updates for folks who do not want to spend $10. FYI, the paper version is $17.95 and you only get it for one year (now). We give it to you for $9.99 through 2010.
(6) looks like blech on an iPhone.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to email us at info at congressinyourpocket.com if you'd like more information.
punkassjim said 4:40PM on 9-29-2008
The thing that boggles the mind is, you've got two motives for creating this software that are in DIRECT competition with one another:
1) you want people to take an active role in government, and strike up communication to make their voices heard.
2) you want to make money.
The reason people don't get involved is because there are barriers to entry. Ten bucks is a barrier to entry.
The fact is, I want this app, but I won't pay $10 for it. I think I speak for many. You may sell a healthy number of these things at $9.99, but you would sell a HUGE number of them at 99¢ (which is still a barrier to entry). Me, I'd write some other, more gratifying app to sell for a higher price, and post the Congress app for free, as a loss-leader. But hey, that's just me.
Le Big Mac said 4:04PM on 9-29-2008
Yearly updates aren't going to cut it--staff turns over too quickly.
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Sean Flanagan said 4:22PM on 9-29-2008
Hmmm... Paying money for the opportunity to talk to a member of Congress. Sounds about right to me...
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jonathan ober said 4:29PM on 9-29-2008
considering that you could find the information online with a little time and google. the 10 bucks is a convenience fee.
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michaeldavidcohen said 5:21PM on 9-29-2008
We appreciate the comment, Jonathan. We had a team spend a lot of time calling Congress to make sure their staffers names are correct. Also, you'd be surprised how wrong some sources are online that we all know and watch. Our view of it was that the major companies doing this were charging quite a lot of money for it and we thought it would be fair to charge less. We are certainly in business to be in business (punkassjim) but thought the lower price points would be more fair than what was out there. This is not a loss-leader for us. This is the one application (in three versions) we are going to do. We hope you check places like http://www.appcraver.com/congress/#comments for a serious review. Thanks again for reading the post at TUAW.
Beaver said 4:41PM on 9-29-2008
Hey! I don't want Larry Craig in MY pocket!
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kajoob said 5:04PM on 9-29-2008
How is it that as SOON as an article pushing an app appears on the front page and someone comments, the developer IMMEDIATELY responds.
It is evident that all these app "reviews" are sponsored links in sheep's clothing.
You know what? That's fine. Everybody has to pay the bills, bandwidth isn't free. At least have a little integrity though and mention that it's a sponsored link instead of doing it on the sneak.
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michaeldavidcohen said 5:19PM on 9-29-2008
kajoob,
I'm sorry you believe this.
We purchased nothing from TUAW but simply released the application today and they are covering it. There are others who are doing it today as well.
I am responding here personally because our team worked really hard on it and we want to be responsive. I'm proud of the application. As you might expect, the first few hours after a release are critical for developers.
If you want to continue this off-line, I invite you to email me at mcohen at congressinyourpocket.com. I'll respond to you directly and perhaps we can talk about it by phone.
Best regards,
Mike
Victor Agreda, Jr. said 11:54AM on 9-30-2008
kajoob, we take that accusation pretty seriously. We don't take any money for reviewing apps. We have a great sales team who places ads on the page, but they don't interact with our bloggers.
TUAW bloggers write what they want, and developers tend to pay attention to reviews by people passionate enough to do reviews. No conspiracy here.
nycvillage said 5:23PM on 9-29-2008
As a journalist - this is a great deal. Web sites with this info suck on the iphone. And it's a lot cheaper than other options sold in print.
If the developer is going to update FREQUENTLY than I will buy it in a second.
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digitalintrigue said 5:21PM on 9-29-2008
Unfortunately, EVERY ONE of these people are already in your pocket and they only want to dig deeper.
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ThePete said 6:47PM on 9-29-2008
Hm, seems to me, the developer is using the current situation with our economy to help sell his app--better to charge less in light of the economy and seem a bit less greedy. It's like he's saying:
"Ooo, WHAT a mess in Washington!! You should contact your representatives in Washington and let your voice be heard! I've got *just* the app for you! $10 please!"
Of course, he could say:
"In light of the current economic crisis, we'll be giving away our app for free so everyone can have easy access to their representatives in Washington. Once the bailout bill is passed or is down for the count, we'll go back to the regular price."
That would make the developer look like a prince and inspire a lot of positive reviews to help sell future copies of the app.
Just my 2 yen...
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michaeldavidcohen said 7:37PM on 9-29-2008
ThePete,
Sorry you believe we're being greedy. Again, we believe that the pricing for what we are offering is fair, below what you can buy in print, and important information that folks might want to have in their pockets.
The "mess" in Washington was not an inspiration for this effort. We began the process in in April this year with our web application, which was chosen by Apple as a Staff Pick and featured in the Reference section on the front page.
IMHO I think if we dropped the price based on the bailout bill it would look more, not less, like a gambit from a greedy developer who was trying to take advantage of a bad situation on Capitol Hill.
We'd prefer to have the application stand on its own regardless of the ups and downs there.
Again, we have a $1.99 version under review at Apple, which we hope you consider. Thanks for your post.
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Kai Cherry said 8:14PM on 9-29-2008
Heheh...
Michael...save your efforts for your customers. People that can't seem to part with $10 for a comprehensively researched and developed product are *not* your customers.
"Your app should be free": Gee...that would be nice...except it is *impossible to developer AppStore apps without paying to do so*
"Your app should cost less because you can do something not even remotely similar and comprehensive via MobileSafari": This isn't even worth a response, Michael. You are being put on the defensive by people that spend at least $45 a month to talk on their fancy iPhones...and likely at least that much on coffee/chai/junk.
"You are exploiting the environment today! Help America...make it free!" Perhaps we should all show up at your job and demand free product to "help out" everyone.
The app is $9.99. $10. We aren't a 3rd world country yet...I am having a real hard time seeing why you all are beating up this guy for a $10 app on a $200+ device.
Next time Michael, try a to-do list. People seem to not have enough of *those* on the AppStore. What were you *thinking* man? A comprehensive guide to members of Congress? For $10? People pay...much, much more for that kind of info...assuming they know where to find it.
Sell to lobbyists-in-training...they know the value of good info ;)
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michaeldavidcohen said 9:03PM on 9-29-2008
Thank you for your post, Kai. Needless to say, we appreciate your perspective.
We've gotten quite a lot of interesting email today from folks who purchased the application and we're pleased with the response.
We also got some extremely good suggestions such as adding:
- Legislation tracking
- Campaign finance
- Association scoring (e.g. League of Conservation Voters)
- Subcommittees
- Links to political blogs
- Search by committees and subcommittees
Needless to say we want to do most of this list and we encourage more ideas. Our long-term plan for the application is to roll out more of a portal (think Sportsacular for politicos) beyond the address book, balanced Left/Right. Hopefully it will become something folks use more often.
Thanks again, Kai.
alansky said 8:29PM on 9-29-2008
Isn't it enough that we already have Congress on our backs? Now we should have them in our pockets? Not!
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