{"id":5852,"date":"2011-06-10T16:24:08","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T21:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/?p=5852"},"modified":"2011-07-16T15:31:40","modified_gmt":"2011-07-16T20:31:40","slug":"all-my-everytrail-guides-are-free-for-download-to-iphone-android","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/2011\/06\/10\/all-my-everytrail-guides-are-free-for-download-to-iphone-android\/","title":{"rendered":"All my EveryTrail guides are free for download to iPhone, Android"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EveryTrailRest easy, weary hiker, you need no longer fear the stratospheric price of $1.99 for my mobile hiking guides at EveryTrail.com.<\/a> Actually, we stopped charging for new guides a couple months back, but about four dozen of my guides were still paid downloads because that was the original plan: oblige folks to shake loose a few bucks for content that cost a lot of money to produce. <\/p>\n

Well, we’ve abandoned such Stone Age notions and joined the content-wants-to-be-free realities of whatever we’re calling this decade we live in now. I’m not bitter about this. Really, I’m not. I like free stuff too. And there could be profitable ways to slice-and-dice all the wisdom I picked up along the way.<\/p>\n

While I can’t speak for EveryTrail’s motives, I can tell from my most recent downloads that charging people for such a new category of technology was actively discouraging them from trying it out. In the time it’s taken me to write this post, a couple of EveryTrail users have gone through and downloaded a whole bunch of my guides. This has never happened before.<\/p>\n

As I’ve mentioned now and then, I have a contract with EveryTrail to write these guides. While it would be impolite to mention how much I earned from the downloads, rest assured the number was small enough that I did not have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the land of the free. <\/p>\n

I’ve written about three dozen new guides in the past six weeks — this might sound odd for a guy living in North Carolina, but I’m still writing about trails in the Bay Area. The great thing about this blog is that I have documented reminders of everyplace I’ve hiked, so I’m going to work through the rest of my California hikes before moving on to North Carolina. <\/p>\n

The first generation of guides had premium features: multiple photos and turn-by-turn points of interest. The latest bunch are more basic — a GPS track, a hike description naming the trails used, and facts about the locale (trailhead, driving directions, park hours, etc). Not nearly as ornate, but way, way cheaper. <\/p>\n

The coolest thing about this new setup: “Bundles” of multiple guides are free, too. These are three I’ve done lately: <\/p>\n