Travelfish Guides forum

Travelfish PDF Guides are becoming free on May 1, 2010

somtam2000

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mahout
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Hi all,

From May 1, 2010 the Travelfish PDF guides that we have sold via the site will become free for a period of three months, after which we'll be removing them totally.

We're doing this because I don't have the time to prepare both the iPhone apps and the PDF guides and so we had to pick one or the other.

If you have purchased any of the guides in the last seven-days, please drop me a line in this thread and I'll refund the purchase price.

We will be introducing a new version of the eFish (the paper guides you can build in the Member Centre) in the near future, so we're not going totally mobile!

Thanks again to all that purchased the guides - we hope they helped you get the most out of your trip.

Cheers
Stuart & Sam

#1 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 07:28

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iPhone Apps for Southeast Asia
busylizzy

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I object!!!!

I think the Apps are fantastic - but now I will need to buy an iPhone or iTouch to et the full-blown guides. (OK, granted, I might do that eventually anyhow....)

And I LIKE to have a printed version of the guide! Printed in A5, they are convenient to take to the beach, to a restaurant or to read on a bus while not putting my iGadget at risk. I can tear a few pages out and shove it into my small carry bag and quickly whip it out to check the map or an address, again without exposing my iGadget unnecessarily.

Whilst the eFish guides are good, the formatting and layout of the PDF guides is far superior! Not to mention the inclusion of maps, accom reviews, and other little tidbits.

Sigh.... I LIKE the old technology as well as the new!

#2 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 08:41

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busylizzy

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PS - but thanks for making them PDF guides free meanwhile. :-)

#3 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 08:41

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As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do.
somtam2000

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hmmm, thought I might be hearing about this from you!

My the time we completely remove the paid-for guides the eFishies will include maps and be a good deal prettier...really

#4 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 09:00

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iPhone Apps for Southeast Asia
Archmichael

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Hmmm. Yeah, I'll miss the travel guides. I prefer having something I can hold, read, mark out, write notes on, etc. Haven't used the eFishies, so I'll have to check that out. I do understand choices have to be made.

I'm curious, though (at least in part because I don't own an iphone, and am unlikely to invest in one): what do you think the percentage is of TFer's who do have an iphone? Must be higher than I suspected. And growing?

#5 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 10:14
boxee

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before u said u was looking into making the apps for other phone OP systems is this something u are looking to do

#6 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 11:25
swag

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Have to agree with other posters on this. I too am unlikely to buy an iphone in the near future. I too prefered having something printed to write on rip out etc. I also like to leave the guide at my last guesthouse in the applicable guide for someone else to use. Lets hope the efishes are a good formatted substitute.
Why do I get this sinking feeling I'm on the wrong side of forty and not so beholden to the very latest technology.
While I can see the economics of the decision sort of doesn't suit me.
regards

#7 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 11:52
somtam2000

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Sorry, just to be clear - detailed printable guides will be coming back -- when we turn off the guides as they are (so end of July 2010). The existing ones are no longer going to be updated and so we felt it was a little cheeky to continue to charge for them.

The new version will not be quite as "pretty" as the ones that we now sell are, but they'll be pretty close -- and they'll certain be a good deal more useable than the current efishies.

We're not shifting to solely producing content for the iPhone and iPod Touch and printable guides will remain available on Travelfish.

As for building for other platforms, I know I've mentioned it before, but as it stands Australian companies are not permitted to build Android apps for sale -- they can only build and give away for free. So until that changes, we won't be building for Android.

Hope that helps clear things up.

More questions? Ask away.

#8 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 13:08

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iPhone Apps for Southeast Asia
Lother

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How about Symbian? Not too tricky to develop for, and much less restricted, as I've understood. And a pretty large market. I sure would appreciate Symbian travel apps, seeing that I'll never buy Apple products due to the ridiculous limitations and restrictions they choose to place on their users, and the touch screen Symbian phones like my 5800 can do pretty much everything an iPhone can in terms of features.

But anyway, a nice move to make the existing guides free for a time :).

#9 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 13:55
SBE

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I haven't the faintest clue what an android app is but I'm not planning buying an iphone any time soon either.

Did I understand correctly... these new pretty printable efishes with maps and stuff aren't ever going to be updated?

#10 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 13:58
somtam2000

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@SBE I'm talking about the guides on this page:
http://www.travelfish.org/ebooks

They are not going to be updated again.

The new, upgraded efishy things which we're aiming to have finished at the end of the 3-month slot, will be as up-to-date as the website, and so will be updated on an ongoing basis.

#11 Posted: 28/4/2010 - 14:11

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iPhone Apps for Southeast Asia