| | MarshalltheTechCat said "Is this the greatest thing to be spending money on? I do see how this would be useful and convenient but could the money to develop and maintain the app be put towards something the entire city could benefit from, not just those with cellphones and data plans (pretty ignorant to think that everyone does)?
Does anybody have an idea as to what this app is going to cost tp maintain, and what it cost to develop? Was it developed in-house or from some third party (outsourced or local)?
I have seen quite a few wading pools taken out over the years, all the parks by the river destroyed and now look like garbage, side walks always need replacing, could we have not invested in something like that?
I have a hard time figuring out how taxes were spent on something that I would consider a luxury when their are much better places that the money could be spent. (maybe I am mistaken and tax dollars did not go towards this, call me out if I am wrong) And only released for iOS, could they have not waited until they developed the app for Android before releasing it? Has the C.O.B ever heard of project management?
Who asked for this app? Was this app absolutely needed? Or are we just trying to keep up with Winnipeg in a "who''s got the bigger wiener" match? Or is this a matter of going out and getting a new iPhone when you have other essential bills to pay?
Edited by MarshalltheTechCat, 2017-12-06 16:57:54" |
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Always good to ask questions, but personally feel that after ten years of the smartphone era it's self evident why a business or org with communication needs should have an app. Reading this almost gives one the impression smartphones are an early adopter thing or that the app was only built to be compatible with the latest expensive phone on a data hog plan which I don’t think is the case.
Re finances, tax revenue of course doesn’t grow on trees (new thread idea :) ).... but it’s been said that roughly every $400,000 in expenses is equivalent to 1% in property tax. I’m not sure how they quantify resources that have gone into this project but for fun let's pick a real high number like $20,000. Though I don't imagine it ran that high, if on the city side of your property tax bill you pay $2000 then you paid about a one-time $1 to build the app.
That's without taking into consideration that the more the city is able to build out a system where they connect directly with people, the less they're going to have to spend on advertising... something an app and push notifications (assume eventually on Android side as well) should be a big part of.
Debating features, interface, usability, etc are another thing altogether and I still feel like I’d use it a lot more if they’d transition away from web page wrappers and to more traditional faster loading smartphone app controls for presenting content but I respect that you walk before you run and respect their approach to evolve over time based on feedback!