(Android) Developer Income Report #8

I'm happy for kreci that he is able to make enough money online to support himself but the apps are just dismal. That combined with the made-for-Adsense site he showed us a few days ago (which he claimed to have paid for 100 backlinks to!) shows that he's adding very little value to the Android ecosystem and the web.

His income reports are valuable because they can be an inspiration to others but the way he is making his money is, at the very least, distasteful.

Creating a "great" product that you attach yourself to regardless of its lack of revenue seems to me to require a lot more hope and prayer than keeping a diverse portfolio of apps in niches that have proven attractive to consumers.

You appear to be criticizing KreCi for not being Michelangelo when his aspiration is just to be the neighborhood pest control guy.

Heres a link from a previous conversation on HN about the Apple appstore. I'm not sure if your comment is directed at just the Android store, but what you say is relevant to both markets. Except maybe implying they are crap. What people like or enjoy is subjective.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2273557 *My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range.

>What happened to concept of developing a great product that actually takes some effort?

I would be happy to do that, but if the market doesn't value those kinds of apps then I would be a fool to develop them.

"What happened to concept of developing a great product that actually takes some effort?"

That doesn't fly when you only want to make a living doing what you feel is fun. Not everyone wants to become a titan of industry. The brass ring resizes to fit many hands, not just really big and ambitious ones. "Go big or go home" is a philosophy for some, but not for all.

Put it another way, the chances of injury when swimming in the shallow end are minimal compared to swimming with sharks in the deep end. Sure, that's where Zuckerbergs and Brins and Ellisons all swim, but not everyone wants that headache.

"but do it with a great product that you believe in, not with bs e-books and movie quote soundboards."

First off, you're quite presumptuous in saying his e-book is "bs". Would you call "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham a "bs e-book"? All it does is dole out advice on value investing that even Suze Ormann dishes out every day on her CNBC show for free. Why would anyone buy Graham's "bs e-book"?

And, one person's "crap application" is another one's "purchased/downloaded application". FWIW, I despise television shows like "American Idol", "Tosh.0" and "The Jersey Shore", but that doesn't mean that the producers of that show don't believe it. They know people are watching it, so they proudly produce and air it. If kreci made crap apps, no one would download it. But download they do.

With the preponderance of apps out there, what's the harm in creating a few yourself and having a go at it? "Polluting" the market? So, you would rather app stores go back to the featurephone style of curating a "market" of only 100 games and 100 utilities all costing $10 each and 3 dollar ringtones.

Thank you too for your kind words ;)

It was a good idea to link to another developer's report from your post. It will encourage more people to report on their progress.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how good your English have become.

Oh and keep the updates coming - it is very encouraging and good for the ecosystem itself.

That is another person used as an example in the post that he isn't the only one making such money on android.