Hey Brian,

I’m the developer of the McSweeney’s iPhone app and just saw your rather angry comment about the app, so I thought I’d contact you to find out what is making you so irate.

The app is priced at $5.99 (USD), with subscription top-ups at $4.99 for each subsequent six months. The subscription is just for the Small Chair content (stories, films, audiobooks, movies, etc.) that is pushed to your phone each week. The syndicated content from the McSweeney’s website remains free forever.

I think I can easily justify the 20¢/week charge for the Small Chair content. I mean, you know, there’s artists to pay, significant server infrastructure costs, not to mention the time of the people at McSweeney’s and myself. Do you expect an advertisement-free book subscription to be free forever? I think most people would realise why this isn’t possible.

I’d like to hear your reasons why charging a comparatively miniscule amount for content is such a bad thing, with the alternative being we all lose money to provide you and others with our work. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about basic economics, etc.

Russell.