Is there a market for the $1.99 IBM Lotus product?

08/06/2010 11:55 AM by Chris Toohey

When I first released Controller API Utility v1.0 (and lamenting over it's lackluster sales), Nathan shared this small nugget of wisdom:

People don't buy apps to help build apps... they just buy apps.

I took his advice, and my next two apps were more Admin and Developer focused apps.

The other day, when publically mentioning my next $5 app (which will be a mail campaign app based on Zephyr, specifically focused on allowing even an end-user to create on-demand mass mailers), Bruce commented on my Facebook:

I want a $2 app........

This actually got me thinking if we -- the independent software vendor (developers unite!) -- could create a $1.99 product for the IBM Lotus platform.

I thought of a few projects I have in mind that might actually fit the $1.99 pricing model... simple utilities that allowed a developer or admin to quickly perform some currently menial task like getting the Password Recovery key from an ID file without a need for the Lotus Domino Admin client or a NotesItem cleaner that would allow you to apply a ruleset against a selected NotesDocumentCollection and create/update/delete various NotesItems.

I thought of creating Script Libraries and app frameworks for developers to allow them to quickly ramp-up a new project to inject into an existing app for simple extended functionality.

I thought of quite a few things actually, and at this rate, I could keep coding and releasing these low-priced apps well into next year (I'm shooting for one new app per week!)

What about you? Can you think of anything that would fit that $1.99 pricetag (or even the oh-so-pricey $5.00) range? Is there a market for low cost products for this platform? Y'know, something that addresses an individual or small-group business need? Something that helps you get through your day.

I've got my own ideas to go through... but perhaps you should crack open the Designer client and create a few from your own! The more apps, the better for our platform.