PlayStation 3 gets Dish DVR Virtual Joey app

That's not the point. A customer is paying Dish $7 per month to use the virtual Joey on their PS3. They have a problem. They will call Dish. It sounds like Dish is going to say "That sounds like a PS3 problem, call Sony"... and you can bet Sony will say "That sounds like a Dish problem, call Dish"... and round and round it will go. Whereas IF that same customer is paying the same $7 for an actual Joey, Dish will have to address the problem somehow.

Maybe... but not nearly as much as it would if the app was free... and Dish could afford to give that functionality away for free to entice new customers and it would gain a lot for Dish with each new customer.

IF you know you're going to have to pay for it... then the novelty of being able to use your PS3 is just that, a novelty... and you'll be comparing all the other merits of Dish vs DirecTV vs cable and leave the virtual Joey off the table.

But if it were free... then that's a chip in Dish's favor.

 

Just because you never had a problem with your Netflix, Amazon, or HBO go apps doesn't mean people out there don't have problems with them. There are definitely people out there who have problems with those apps... and sometimes they get caught in the finger-pointing of the app-maker vs the ISP. It's not hard (even on this very Web site) to find people having problems with Netflix or Amazon streaming, for example.

A Virtual Joey is not a simple thing either. It requires a working PS3 to be configured on the same network as your Hopper. I have problems in my house with my WiFi all the time... but they are my problems to deal with because I setup my wireless network. But a customer paying $7 per month to use that Virtual Joey app on his PS3 is going to rightfully expect Dish to help him resolve problems OR he is going to quit paying that fee and might even get so frustrated he will leave Dish over it.

A person having troubles with a free app is going to feel less cheated when he can't be helped than is a person paying $7.

 

That would be DISH. It is their app ... it isn't something they can blow off to third party support.
People expect it to work and when it doesn't they will call DISH.

The choice in my opinion is to charge for usage which helps defray development costs and pay for support or offer it free and say "if it doesn't work it doesn't work - you're not paying for it don't expect a lot of help".

I believe they made the right decision.