What happened to the Metservice Website?

Forums › Off topic › What happened to the Metservice Website?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

343 posts

Ultimate Geek

#638846 11-Jun-2012 12:07

1 Widget
2 Location aware option where GPS determines the temp downloaded
3. Road conditions based on GPS loc
3. Weather warnings sent to your phone based on position, can be selected
4. Voice activation and warning
5 SMS messaging

more .....

Actually I asked around, and the consensus was that seeing its a private organization making it that as professionals they should have a good enough grasp to know themselves.

As one person said "Watch this space".

tdgeek

29740 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#638848 11-Jun-2012 12:16

netspanner:
1 Widget
2 Location aware option where GPS determines the temp downloaded
3. Road conditions based on GPS loc
3. Weather warnings sent to your phone based on position, can be selected
4. Voice activation and warning
5 SMS messaging

more .....

Actually I asked around, and the consensus was that seeing its a private organization making it that as professionals they should have a good enough grasp to know themselves.

As one person said "Watch this space".

Well, there you go. Much better to provide constructive criticism with detail for feedback that can be taken on board, Rather than a rant which will be ignored. You got there in the end.

netspanner

343 posts

Ultimate Geek

#638849 11-Jun-2012 12:19

Don't patronize.

A rant raises the issue, and that list was only the beginning, I stopped when others said not to say any more.

MetServiceComms

51 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

Metservice

#638925 11-Jun-2012 13:34

I would just add that the government doesn't fund this in any way - MetService paid for this app. We are an SOE that is government owned but not government funded.

minimoke

750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#638929 11-Jun-2012 13:42

Netspanners remarks seem to be quite resonable to me. Cant see what the fuss is about.

This was one app I was looking forward to but unfortunatly don't have it so can't comment on if its any good or not. Can't comment on the techncial aspect either - others are better qualified.

I was surprised to see it come in at $2.59. Why, as an SOE, are metservice charging for this app? I haven't bought it as I haven't bought any apps and have no idea how I would do so. All my apps are free. I've got my Countdown one, my Vodafone one, my TRademe, my NZ Newspapers, my Dominos pizzas all for free. I even got to read the Budget for free and Geonet are doing a pretty good job of keeping me informed of aftershocks.

I get all the weather I want with two taps which takes me straight to the Metserveice mobile page with temps, wind and 3 day forecast. A glance out the window tells me its cloudy and the snow on the ground (still!) tells me its cold.

Is there anything in the app that tells me more, more easily and worth figuring out how to pay for it?

Surely Metservice haven't done this as a commercial exercise? At $2.59 their transaction costs would just about soak this up so developement costs will never be paid off. So why not make it a free app and save those operational expences.

MetServiceComms

51 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

Metservice

#638931 11-Jun-2012 13:49

netspanner:
1 Widget
2 Location aware option where GPS determines the temp downloaded
3. Road conditions based on GPS loc
3. Weather warnings sent to your phone based on position, can be selected
4. Voice activation and warning
5 SMS messaging

more .....

Actually I asked around, and the consensus was that seeing its a private organization making it that as professionals they should have a good enough grasp to know themselves.

As one person said "Watch this space".

Hi again. This is your view of what you want in a weather app - but not necessarily what others want. That said, a widget is already in the works; we also have future updates and other apps planned which will incorporate the features above and many more.

You won't necessarily find an exhaustive set of features in every app - just the ones people find most useful for the purpose they're buying it for. This one is Towns & Cities general weather; no marine, no skifields etc. Not everyone wants that info.

Our aim for this app (and for every app we develop) is to make it beautiful, fun to use and not just another run-of-the-mill weather app. And it uses MetService data - not global model data - so it's much more reliable.

I've passed on your feedback re features to the developers.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#638950 11-Jun-2012 14:15

OK as someone who did buy this app I can say I find it too simple and too limited. I am also concerned by the comment above that

..we also have future updates and other apps planned which will incorporate the features above and many more.
You won't necessarily find an exhaustive set of features in every app - just the ones people find most useful for the purpose they're buying it for. This one is Towns & Cities general weather; no marine, no skifields etc. Not everyone wants that info.

I hope that does not mean that there will be different apps for marine/skifields etc. To me the Metservice app should cover all those aspects (as the mobile web site already does) but be in a optimised interface. It is still possible to have all that information without complicating the interface and just because not wants something is not reason not to include it.

IMHO for the Metservice app to be successful it needed to at a minimum provide everything the mobile web site does but with a better interface. The current app succeeds in the second part (better interface) but is far to limited in the information provided.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

netspanner

343 posts

Ultimate Geek

#638976 11-Jun-2012 14:58

This is the situation I was talking about earlier no marine, no skifields etc. Why not? its not hard, its easily accessible, simple to add functionality like that. You only have to draw from the existing API used by the website, you did exactly that when creating the toy that you have now. A 14 year old could code it.

Would anyone actually complain that they could access the mountain forecast when they didn't want it? No. Would someone be thankful to be able to check that the weather was closing in as they headed for the mountains? Heck yes.

Does paperkite, or metservicecomms just not want to bother with it? You say people don't want them, but the feedback here is that people DO want them.

This is why its mediocre.

Paperkite / Metservice produced a birthday card with the temperature on it. People wanted a weather app that keeps them up to date and safe. There is a world of difference and that difference is is quality.

Our aim for this app (and for every app we develop) is to make it beautiful, fun to use and not just another run-of-the-mill weather app.

Then you failed. pretty is not a pic of a kid, people don't care about pretty when they want the marine forecast. This is simplistic rubbish passed off as high tech by people who are unable or incapable of utilizing the technology that they have available.

minimoke

750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#639227 11-Jun-2012 19:24

MetServiceComms: I would just add that the government doesn't fund this in any way - MetService paid for this app. We are an SOE that is government owned but not government funded.

Perhaps govt didn't fund the App in any way but govt does provide grants to Met Service and Govt department and SOE's provide revenue streams to Metservice. So in effect we the tax payer are paying one way or another for this app development.

The flip side of this particular coin is that as an SOE, MetService ought to be paying a dividend to Govt and we taxpayers. Every dollar spent on making a beautiful fun thing which does not return at least a dollar means a dollar less dividend. Which means the taxpayer has to cough up a dollar to fund govt activities.

For a $2.59 app perhaps the best way of returning a dividend to the taxpayer is to make the app freely available to NZ'ers.

At $2.59 how many of these things do you need to sell to cover your admin costs and break even on your development costs. There can't be any IP value in this work if its been contracted out.

As a commercial activity I am struggling to see how a $2.59 app is going to be of any benefit to Met services shareholders. As a shareholder I'm not so sure I want my company making beautiful fun things - people who want these things can pick up Angry Birds or 100 Step for nicks.

Technofreak

6530 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#639256 11-Jun-2012 20:14

Hmmm, an interesting discussion developing here.

There seems to a lot of organisations jumping on the App band wagon, from banks and real estate companies to the NZ Government with the budget app to the Met Service. You cannot really blame the Met Service for having a go since there are other weather apps out there and based on this it might seem there is a demand for such an app.

However, how many people will bother to download this app and then what percentage of downloads will get any serious use? Geekzoners would be the exception, I would venture to suggest that very few people will end making serious long term use of this app. Yes I have a weather app on my phone, not the Met Service one, it works well but I wouldn't really miss it if I didn't have it.

In my experience most of the these types of apps tend to be a bit gimicky and only target one or two platforms. For my money, spending the money on a good mobile site is money better spent, then every mobile platform can benefit. The Met Service to their credit has a good mobile site with I use. If I were in the Met Services shoes I wouldn't have wasted money on an app for a limited number of users and just concentrated on the mobile site.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#639268 11-Jun-2012 20:24

Meh at the app, I just have a bookmark to the mobile site on my home screen. Doesn't seem like this app offers anything much, especially given the price.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#639271 11-Jun-2012 20:25

Wow. Haters are gonna hate, it seems.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#639278 11-Jun-2012 20:40

freitasm: Wow. Haters are gonna hate, it seems.

tdgeek

29740 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#639282 11-Jun-2012 20:50

freitasm: Wow. Haters are gonna hate, it seems.

I know. Its just an app. Its half the cost of a Latte.

Well, I like it.

I use the mobile app, I prefer the new one as I can get to Christchurch quicker, and I can flick through 10 days quicker. That it has a nice interface is cool, that it has other useful features cool. But I get to what I want quicker, so it suits me.

I can see that the other features that Netspanner mentioned are also very useful. Maybe not widely used, but no reason why more cannot be added. As regards the cost, well the Govt is strapped for cash, the Met Service will have a budget. I expect it was no app, or a low cost pay app. To compare a $2-59 app against making Angry Birds? Well, I'm lost with that TBH.

Its there if you want it, I imagine it hasn't cost the Met Service anything from their budget as its user pays, that takes care of the shareholder taxpayer point .

Cheers anyway

Technofreak

6530 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#639289 11-Jun-2012 20:57

tdgeek:
Well, I like it.

I use the mobile app, I prefer the new one as I can get to Christchurch quicker, and I can flick through 10 days quicker.

I have Hamilton set as my homepage on the met Service mobile site, days 1-3 of the 10 day forecast are right there when the site is accessed along with current conditions. Days 4-10 are one click away. Not too slow at all, it might not have the flash screen of the app but works well for me.

Each to their own I guess

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8