Oxford Deluxe (InApp)

Some things, like the Periodic Table, represent some of the foremost achievements of human thought. And the OED is such a monument (even if we discount the other Oxford dictionaries). Buying a book like this for $25 is worth it to me. I expect this to provide profit and enjoyment to years to come. I offer my personal thanks to the countless people over centuries who have worked and sacrificed to produce this book. And I also send my thanks to the software engineers, and everyone else, who did the work allowing me to put this behemoth of a book into my pocket. Five stars.

As an octogenarian at this stage in my life, I look back to the days when as a young school boy my dad always spoke of the “Murray’s Oxford” as the ultimate lexicon to refer to. Things have not changed. When you refer to it, you know it is the ultimate. How delighted I was when my granddaughter a few years ago, when she was still not ten, asked me for a dictionary. What did I give her. You guessed the answer correctly! Why, of course the Oxford dictionary. She is a voracious reader and refers to it all of the time. Cyrus Kapadia.

This is a very good app. Probably the app I’ve used the most since I move to a smart phone years ago. I PURCHASED the app for over $60. I made, what was at the time, a one time lifetime PURCHASE. But as of yesterday (01/23/) the app no longer works. Now when I open it an X and the words “Total Failure” appears on the screen momentarily before it redirects to the App Store. There I see the same app with the “Open” radio button you normally see there with apps you have previously purchased (v. “Get” or “Free”, etc. for apps you haven’t). Thinking “Well, the app on my phone must have somehow become corrupted, I hit the “Open” button assuming it would reload the app and it would work again. But now when every time I’ve attempted to use it, I get the message, “In app purchases are required to use this app.” Imagine buying a very useful product (not leasing or renting it), say your TV that you paid top dollar for. You use it all the time, until one day the manufacturer sends someone who enters your home without your permission or knowledge. He breaks your TV so you can’t use it anymore and leaves a sign on it that says, “If you want to continue using this TV, you’re going to have to start paying us to use it.” Would you ever do business with that company again? Don’t get me wrong, If this company decided to go that route for any NEW customer purchases of the app, they have that right. But to disable an app that a customer PURCHASED for $60+ as a one time buy is something like a breach of contract, a violation of consumer rights. But maybe - just maybe they will see this review and do the right thing by restoring my prepaid lifetime usage.