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I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

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Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#111

Post by gridder »

xp84 wrote: post #30
sudb wrote: post #6

I wonder what the numbers say about desktop applications now, and how much the arrival of Electron changed things up here. Nowadays, it seems to be that mobile apps have the "best metrics" for b2c software. I'd be interested to read a contemporary version of this article.

“Metrics” This reminds me of a past job working for an e-commerce company. This wasn’t a store like Amazon that “everyone” uses weekly, it was a specific pricey fashion brand. They had put out a shitty iOS app, which was just a very bare-bones wrapper around the website. But they raved about how much better the conversion rate rates were there. Nobody would listen to me about how the customers that bother downloading…

Survivorship bias

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#112

Post by leonidasrup »

the__alchemist wrote: post #83
ryandrake wrote: post #17

Almost all of Patrick's points are great if your software development goal is to make a buck . They don't seem to matter if you're writing open source, and I'd argue that desktop apps are still relevant and wonderful in the open source world. I just started a new hobby project, and am doing it as a cross-platform, non-Electron, desktop app because that's what I like to develop. The onboarding funnel: Only a concern i…

They're also ubiquitous for creative works, i.e. the sort of things a small set of people spend much time on, but is not something most people use. Examples: - CAD / ECAD - Artist/photos - Musician software. Composing, DAW etc - Scientific software of all domains, drug design etc

Adobe Photoshop, the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editing, is was first example of a perfectly fine commercial desktop application converted to cloud application with a single purpose - increased profit for Adobe.

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#113

Post by whateveracct »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #33
whateveracct wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's amazing how freeing working an office job is. my personal projects don't have concerns such as monetization.

On the other hand I spent 25 years selling desktop software and never once had an annual review. I never had to submit an application for time off. I never had to ask permission for a dentist appointment. If the weather was good I could take the day off and go for a bike ride. I didn’t attend any scrum meetings nor did I have to argue about what framework to use with a PM who couldn’t code FizzBuzz.

yeah but i get paid to use the toilet in my own home

ig remote work is the best of both worlds

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#114

Post by foresto »

otterley wrote: post #74
sfpotter wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He didn't pooh-pooh anyone's careers.

The way it's worded comes across that way.

I have spent a good deal of my life writing software to put food on the table. I didn't interpret any of what he wrote in the way you describe. Perhaps you could explain why you did.

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#115

Post by foresto »

nonethewiser wrote: post #37
ryandrake wrote: post #17

Almost all of Patrick's points are great if your software development goal is to make a buck . They don't seem to matter if you're writing open source, and I'd argue that desktop apps are still relevant and wonderful in the open source world. I just started a new hobby project, and am doing it as a cross-platform, non-Electron, desktop app because that's what I like to develop. The onboarding funnel: Only a concern i…

its just waaaaaay easier to distribute a web app For some things a desktop app is required (more system access) or offers some competitive UX advantage (although this reason is shrinking all the time). Short of that user's are going to choose web 95% of the time.

> its just waaaaaay easier to distribute a web app

Let's also remember that it's infinitely easier to keep a native app operational, since there's no web server to set up or maintain.

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#116

Post by traderj0e »

mwkaufma wrote: post #43

Over a decade of circular "web apps are better for the subset of problems webapps are good at" tautologies.

Web apps weren't so easy to make back then, so standalone apps were the norm. Shortly before 2009 a lot of the web apps were Java or Adobe Flash, and 2009 was part of the transition period where platforms were at war with that stuff but open-web alternatives weren't mature yet.

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#118

Post by CobrastanJorji »

binaryturtle wrote: post #49
autonomousErwin wrote: post #14

Grass always looks greener on the other side, mainly because it's been fertilised.

No, "grass always looks greener on the other side" is a perspective thing. If you stand on your own grass then you look down onto it and see the dirt, but if you look over to the other side you see the gras from the side which makes it look more dense and hides the dirt. But it's the same boring grass everywhere. :)

At first, I thought "this is missing the point of the phrase" and moved on, but now I'm back to say it's stuck in my head and an intuitive, pretty neat way to think about it.

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#119

Post by CobrastanJorji »

xp84 wrote: post #32
QuantumNomad_ wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please pick up a few bitcoins for me too when you go there

Realizing I could frickin mine enough bitcoins overnight back then to probably be set for life (maybe for multiple generations) now, is one of my biggest life regrets. I assume it’s shared with all other people who were into tech back then but dismissed bitcoin as stupid, as I did.

Every year since around 2014, friends and family would ask whether they should buy Bitcoin, and every year I told them that I had looked into Bitcoin, I fully understood what Bitcoin was and how it worked, and I recommended that they not invest in Bitcoin because it was stupid. And every year, my advice has been disastrously wrong. Who knows, maybe 2026 will be the first time I'm right.

Re: I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

#120

Post by notarobot123 »

janalsncm wrote: post #102
satvikpendem wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This presupposes that the OSS creator even wants users in the first place, which might not always be the case as it could be personal software; and that these users actually want these features, as many do not want analytics, ads, and A/B tests in your app.

I guess in the same way that one might presuppose a boat wants water? If a piece of software doesn’t have users and the developers don’t care about the papercuts they are delivering, I would argue what they have created is more of an art project than a utility.

Science research without obvious practical application can still be important and valuable.

Art works without popular appeal can become highly treasured by some.

Open source software doesn't have to be ambitious to be worthwhile and useful. It can be artful, utilitarian or a artifact of play. Commercial standards shouldn't be the only measure of good software.

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