Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
The fantastic At Bat is on sale
When the App Store opened, I went nuts and downloaded a slew of apps. Two weeks later, I listed the 8 I decided to keep, including Major League Baseball's (MLB) At Bat [App Store link]. This week, At Bat has dropped in price from $4.99US to $2.99US.It's on sale because it will "expire" when the current season ends (Go, Sox!), meaning you'll have to purchase a new version for 2009. Still, if you're a fan and into the post-season, I encourage you to buy it. It's my hands-down favorite iPhone application.
While using At Bat, I realized how an application's features and benefits affect its longevity. Specifically, the features attract your attention, while the benefits grab you for good.
Here's an example. At Bat provides nearly real-time statistics for ongoing games, including scoring, current batter and pitcher, stats, the count at the plate ... even video clips from a game that's in progress.
You can identify your favorite team to keep their score highlighted, and enjoy an integrated version of MLB Gameday, which provides pitch-by-pitch information and so much more. All of this is presented in an attractive, readable UI.
Those are the features.
The benefit is a feeling of connectedness, even participation, and that's why At Bat is a keeper. As a die-hard baseball fan, I want to watch every game. I know the stats, the players, the standings; who's playing well, who's on injured reserve and who's in a slump. It's tremendously fun to watch a baseball game on a summer evening and get lost in the drama of it all.
However, life interferes (can you say "toddlers"?) and I sometimes miss a game. Yet, those live stats and video clips alleviate the feeling of missing the game, and that's worth a lot more than $2.99 to me.
The same can be said of other applications. Twitterrific [App Store link] puts 1,000 friends in your pocket (leave your adolescent joke in the comments, please). At any time, I can share a funny picture, observation or idea with my buddies, and get a reply just as easily. Those are the features. The benefit is the comfort of friendship.
The benefit of FileMagnet [App Store link] is peace of mind. Yes, I've got that PDF for the meeting. Yes, I've got the photo I have to show my boss. Phew.
Others that I've eliminated went in the other direction - all feature. Cro-Mag Rally's [App Store link] accelerometer-based steering got boring after 10 minutes.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Galley said 3:06PM on 10-07-2008
For baseball junkies, $4.99 is a steal for such a handy app; especially with all the new features they added throughout the season.
Go Rays!
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scott said 3:16PM on 10-07-2008
I'm going to have to repurchase it next year? that is such crap!
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LBDG said 3:26PM on 10-07-2008
When I saw the latest "update" was a special postseason themed edition, I figured that was their method of "turning it off" after the season ended. I stashed away the old regular season edition before emptying my trash in hopes that it'll just "work" in 2009. Will have to pay for any future functionality updates, but fingers crossed on backwards compatibility...
Joe said 3:19PM on 10-07-2008
I get that it's only 3 bucks but I'd still be pretty pissed if I bought it and it expired in a month. They don't do a real good job of making sure you know it's not going to work after the season is over.
"...will provide breakthrough service for the remainder of the 2008 season..."
Ok great. I haven't purchased an app yet that will expire. How would I know that?
After the mlb.com DRM fiasco they won't get any money from me.
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Big John said 3:29PM on 10-07-2008
This is just another example of MLB not "getting it" in the digital age. Draconic restrictions on broadcasts and making this app expire at the end of this post-season is ridiculous.
Anything to bleed money from fans, I suppose.
I'll stick with the free Sportacular app and catch the "can't miss" videos at my own leisure later.
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DrWho said 3:31PM on 10-07-2008
mlb at bat is awesome. If it's $5 a year I'd pay it.
GO SOX!
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Tony Bowman said 3:53PM on 10-07-2008
$5 a season is a steal, for this app. It's fantastic, and I'll gladly pay for it next year, if need be. BUT, we don't even know that yet. Besides, it just matches the payment model for the MLB.tv service they offer.
And I agree, go Red Sox!
JoeS said 3:48PM on 10-07-2008
I agree with you: MLB at Bat is a great app. I wish they made an NFL app. I use sportstap and sportacular for football action but they dont add up to what MLB does for baseball.
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Kevin said 4:56PM on 10-07-2008
You pay for the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL "season passes" by the season. MLB is just extending the concept to the iPhone. I do agree that the fact that you're buying a "season pass" like app for the iPhone could be better highlighted. Maybe they should call it MLB.com 2008 or something.
Still though, why are they not including the ability to listen to MLB radio on the device? I'll gladly pay for that and this app if I could just listen to games on my iPhone. I'd be willing to bet it's DRM related. I think they use some MS technology to wrap the stream in DRM. I'm not 100% on that though.
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Shooter9696 said 5:57PM on 10-07-2008
Listen guys, I work in Sports TV and sometimes involved in digital rights for content.
Of ALL of the companies/leagues I've worked with... MLB does it best.
"Draconian"... No way. They've got the best digital experience PERIOD. Nascar is the next closest.
I expect the app to be $9.99 for the whole season next year. I don't KNOW if that's what it will cost... But you need to remember creating this content costs MONEY to create.
This is one of my most used and favorite apps as a fan. You can watch a game pitch by pitch. It's AWESOME.
Just because it's digital doesn't mean it's free. Think about it.
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Macsoda.com said 5:24PM on 10-07-2008
GO SOX!!!!!!!!
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Stephen Lang said 5:26PM on 10-07-2008
When is there going to be a similar NFL app? My 5 bucks is waiting...
I know there are alternatives, but I want something similar in quality to MLB At Bat.
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elby said 5:35PM on 10-07-2008
I think they make it pretty clear that it will expire at the end of the season. Also, I think that it will be more than $5 next year. That pricing was introuduced when the season was half over. Expect to pay $9.99+ next year.
Go Rockies!!
Oh, wait. We had our one glory season. We need new ownership.
Tiny rant.
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Karl said 6:10PM on 10-07-2008
I've never paid for anything from the App Store (I have an unlocked, jailbroken, warranty-less iPhone, why should I spend even more money?), but this is one application that I'll definitely buy in 2009 if it's under $10. It's not worth the couple dollars for two and a half more weeks TOPS of use.
That being said, I keep up now with ESPN's Gamecast for iPhone webapp, and look up video after the fact. It's not a huge deal, but i'm sure it's nice to have the video with it.
Go Brewe- oh wait, Go Rays!
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krizoitz said 8:17PM on 10-07-2008
To support people who work hard to make a great product so that indie software doesn't die?
Karl said 12:53AM on 10-08-2008
If indie software dies, so be it. As much as I appreciate the software, I'd be a lot less hurt by it disappearing than some of the other people who use it and don't contribute monetarily or in any other way than "It's awesome!" I'm more interested in spending money to watch a baseball game than spending money on an application like this - hell, even the current sale price is almost 3 times what I paid to go to many MLB games this year, and I bought the tickets from the ticket office!
But if my phone is going to break (and it's happened before), or even has a chance, I can't see spending more than a couple dollars on software for it. And that's my final word.
Karl said 12:54AM on 10-08-2008
I lied: my final word is going to be this: I was ecstatic about my iPhone before the jailbreak or unlock had even been discovered - indie software isn't essential to me.
Karl said 12:55AM on 10-08-2008
I lied: my final word is going to be this: I was ecstatic about my iPhone before the jailbreak or unlock had even been discovered - indie software isn't essential to me.
ThinkBlue said 7:56PM on 10-07-2008
Awesome App. Never left my front page. This has kept me going working nights. LOL. Go Dodgers!!!
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Max said 9:57PM on 10-07-2008
is it compatible with providers outside of the USA?
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