First off, Zwift is AWESOME!! I can’t recall being so excited about an indoor training option since getting my Concept 2 rower in the early 2000’s, when being able to see how many meters I’d rowed was the electronic nirvana
I have a ton of respect for what the folks at Zwift are doing but have a perspective on how to move forward. Just one person’s opinion.
The basic “platform” seems pretty stable - for a beta product - but still has a good number of what I’d call “core” bugs, namely those that affect everyone, regardless of platform, interest in workouts vs. “game”, power meter or not, etc, etc. These bugs are acceptable for a beta but wouldn’t be in a released product that justifies a monthly subscriptions. They relate to things like the “physics” engine (finalizing how drafting works) and images (riders going off in random directions for no apparent reason). These are “non-negotiable” bugs in that, as I say, they must be fixed before Zwift ships V1.
With these bugs fixed I would suggest that the Zwift V1 is a fun and motivating platform for a large number of folks. It obviously doesn’t come close to the enormous potential of Zwift but those can all come in the future and, on an ongoing basis, allow Zwift to add feature after feature and make a bug noise about this.
I keep reading, from Zwift, how it’s a small company and difficult decisions need to be made. Every new feature IN BETA that is added now takes time away from fixing the aforementioned core bugs. And the V1 gets further away.
Another perspective is that while Zwift adds features like powerups with a single course and a single race, everyone involved MUST participate. I might not press the spacebar but folks I am potentially racing against have that option. That works fine PROVIDING there is a race I can join that allows me to “opt out” of being with folks who will use powerups. We don’t have that choice in beta,
Powerups strike me as a perfect V1.1 (or V2) feature. Get the basic platform out the door with all the prioritized core bugs fixed, bring in subscription revenue to support additional resources at Zwift and THEN add on powerups (along with multiple races that allow folks who don’t like powerups to opt-out - powerups and configurable races go hand-in-hand, IHMO).
Another aspect is Mac support. I TOTALLY understand why Zwift wants to add that - but is it really essential to take resources away from core bugs (which, by the way, are relevant to Mac too). Strikes me as another example of another Zwift press release after V1
In summary, I’d guess that Zwift could get a really good number of subscribers with the current feature set (with core bugs fixed) and then get on a real roll adding feature after feature.
Two cents, nothing more.
Mark