Wolfram Alpha lowers iPhone app price, will give refunds
Well here's an interesting twist on the Wolfram Alpha saga -- after initially releasing their "knowledge system" on the iPhone and then pulling it and trying to go premium with a $50 iPhone app, they've now reversed their position once again. The iPhone app will drop back down to $1.99 on Sunday, and there will again be a free mobile site accessible from the iPhone (and presumably the iPad as well). Wolfram Alpha seems to be cognizant of their mistaken decision to try and go premium on the app, and they're even offering refunds for those who purchased the app before this announcement.
It's great that everyone will have access to the app again (and we're sure they'll see a lot more usage as a result), but it does say something about the App Store when an app with as much function as Wolfram Alpha can't find a premium selling point. Hopefully they'll find some other way to monetize and keep the service up and running. Assuming this isn't actually a bad April Fool's story (the mobile site is back up and running now, even though the app price isn't scheduled to change until Sunday), we'll see how Wolfram Alpha does with this new philosophy.
Update: Apparently the price has just been dropped. The app is now $1.99 in the App Store.
