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The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

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Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#21

Post by gojomo »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7
wccrawford wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, I thought you meant he just paid someone else to do it... No, so much worse. He didn't even -try-. His app could have had a working version on the store in 2 weeks, if he'd really tried. It would benefit from further work, but would have proved his point. Instead, he got dazzled by how much work the -best- apps take and gave up. It's like looking at a guitar and realizing how much work it takes to become a rock…

No, a non-programmer cannot create an iPhone app in 2 weeks, even a really bad one. You've been programming too long.

I interpreted 'If [reporter] really tried' in the grandparent post to mean, "if reporter earnestly sought out and hired an expert".

Of course, the know-how for doing that takes time to develop as well.

But, if this reporter's real goal was getting an app done, rather than writing a story, she probably would have spoken to more people who had actually hired devs for short projects. Instead, she seems to have spoken to just enough people to get usable quotes for the story.

She never switches from the layperson's "invent" terminology (a misnomer for the ideas-into-functions process of software development) and is only ever hand-wavy about going rates for expert help. There is someone out there who has the expertise to make a simple version 1 of her app in 2 weeks or less; how much does that person charge?

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#22

Post by nanijoe »

wccrawford wrote: post #6
StavrosK wrote: post #4

25% to develop the app for the MEDL incubator? Is the other 75% for just coming up with the idea, or also for launching, getting users, promoting, etc? EDIT: Apparently they handle everything and you get 25% just for the idea. Not bad.

I've had a few ideas that I'd gladly give up 75% of to have someone else do them... If they do them properly.

I have a boatload of ideas that I would gladly give up for a 10% equity stake.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#23

Post by trustfundbaby »

carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

You could ask the same thing about neurosurgery ... I mean, it should be easy and cheap to excise a brain tumor right?

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#24

Post by neutronicus »

carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

I think a lot of people who have ideas for Apps never move beyond the "vague elevator pitch" idea of what it should actually do. It takes more work than people realize just to specify an App's behavior, completely independently of writing any code.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#25

Post by trustfundbaby »

wccrawford wrote: post #13
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, a non-programmer cannot create an iPhone app in 2 weeks, even a really bad one. You've been programming too long.

lol You are correct, if you meant he would program it himself. I meant that he'd pay someone to write it for him. Since that was obviously his idea all along anyhow.

And you think a firm/dev worth their salt would take up his project at short notice, go from start to finish (including testing and debugging) in 2 weeks and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg?

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#26

Post by gte910h »

The prices he quotes are WAY outsized. Low to Mid 5 figures will do a huge proportion of apps that "People have an idea about" using US or Canadian programmers. Some will go into 6 figures, but millions? Really? Not for most ideas.

(This is what I do for a living, 3rd party app development).

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#28

Post by DuncanKinney »

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I was the editor who commissioned the piece. To give some context the writer had about 12 days to write the article. An impartial observer (not me obviously) might get the impression that the people offering up advice here might need to take themselves a little less seriously. Have a lovely day and thanks for reading and commenting.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#29

Post by kevinpet »

DuncanKinney wrote: post #28

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I was the editor who commissioned the piece. To give some context the writer had about 12 days to write the article. An impartial observer (not me obviously) might get the impression that the people offering up advice here might need to take themselves a little less seriously. Have a lovely day and thanks for reading and commenting.

On the contrary, we love the article. I'm not an iOS developer, but to me the obvious steps are to start from "figure out the development environment". Apparently to an outsider, finding a consultant to do it is about the only option, and he doesn't even have the resources or background to communicate effectively with developers. I guess I'm used to working with people who, though they may never have written a line of code in their life, are familiar with the process at a high level.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#30

Post by cheald »

carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

Programming is hard, because it requires a mode of thinking and a level of mental discipline that most people just simply don't possess. Humans think in abstracts; computers deal in specifics.

As long as this is true, programming will be "hard", because until I can program a computer like the Holodeck by speaking to it and having it infer my intent, I will have to be specific about what I want to do, and this is not something that people are used to doing. It takes training to learn to think like a computer, and that will be fully necessary until computers learn to think like us.

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