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Stop Making Apps

techcrunch.com

37 pointshypr_geek11 comments

Stop Writing on the Internet

There are a bunch of Techcrunch articles though I have no clue what they are about. These articles are about but aren’t limited to; Dropbox, CrunchBase, Facebook, Twitter, and many more whose names I can’t even remember.

Occupying valuable internet real estate are also a bunch of articles whose purpose I remember only because they were written by people I know or am friends with, but that I sadly never read. And in some cases I really wish I did, because it would make my friends happy and the world a better place.

Dispersed throughout the article ghetto, or the neighborhood ten or so links past the Techcrunch homepage, are articles I’ve glanced over for work, articles about startups that people joke about (Color, Path), new articles that startups people are still trying to figure out (Batch, Oink) and perfectly legitimate articles that lend themselves to more casual conversation (Uber, Quora, Yelp). And all the articles that fit into one or more of those categories. Oh, and I just read an article about Camera+ (not to be confused with the review of Camera Plus) — it’s not homepage worthy just yet though it might just be the best pieces of gossip I’ve ever read.

I enjoyed this a lot, the only way to improve upon the satire would be if you wrote from the perspective of the some POS iFart app dev.

In my U.S. Government and Politics class in high school we went over how the media influences the political agenda by choosing what to cover. I think the same principle applies here.

"""Stop making apps, or gimmicks, things that don’t solve problems"""

I hate the false sheen of 'altruism' that seems to be pervading start-up (i can't think of a better word to describe it) circles. Solving problems. Changing the world. Fundamentally, if it's making the app-author money, it's solving a problem. If you don't like it, don't buy it, and if you're right that crap-apps are a problem, the market will sort it out.

I think "solving problems" is fine because for the most part that will be why people will use what you built. But I'm with you on "changing the world". When I hear about wannabe entrepreneurs who say they are out to change the world with their photo-sharing app ("we're gonna change the way people share and communicate with their close friends!"), in a way I'm impressed by the dedication and motivation, but wonder if they're just saying that to appear confident and motivated or if they're just delusional.

Someone was telling me that they were working on something that could become a fundamentally new mean of communication comparable to emails or SMSs. I later worked on said product and it was of course nowhere near the hype (though still cool).

It really does come across as either naive, delusional, or socially maladjusted, sometimes.

Ah and you're right on the 'solving problems' thing, it'd have to solve somebody's problem to get any sales.

I agree. Author's view is very shallow, and lacks depth. Honestly, there are very few true problems in life. And the real ones.. when someone wants to solve it, it's immediately viewed as "scams". Talking about diet pills (weight loss is a HUGE problem). Talking about get rich books (being poor is a HUGE problem). Talking about viagra (not having enjoyable sex is a HUGE problem)...

Thinking that installing "Pimple Popper" is a good idea might be the root of your problem of home screen overcrowding.

Sure there are a lot of crap apps, the same way there are a lot of crap websites or crap restaurants, because there will always be some people who think they know better or enough to start something and some people, like the author, who will install them hoping for at least a minute of fun.

This pseudo-rant could be about "stop making clothes and decoration gadgets" if the author never cleaned her room and found her house very cluttered with crap she doesn't need.

Reminds me of when I first got a modem and was able to connect to local BBSes and discovered shareware. Huge selection of things that sounded cool but only ended up running once or twice.

You'd be surprised at how much regular money some of the shittiest looking shareware made/makes people. And i guess that's the same case with the app store, there's a lot of crap that you and I will never need, but if we look for some niche thing, find it, pay for it, we have something we want and the author gets money...the system works! Sounds to me like the article writer needs to delete apps he doesn't like, pretty simple.

Just because there are apps doesn't mean you have to download them all. I made a point of removing all apps I hadn't used daily when I wiped it clean for iOS 5. I then installed the apps that were previously on my homescreen. Beyond that, I only installed the apps when I needed to use them. This meant that apps I'd never use again were never reinstalled. I have a folder of 4-5 games, a couple social networking/communication apps (facebook, google voice, and twitteriffic) in their own folder. A utilities folder for things like Dropbox and other similar apps. The total screen space? Not even two screens thanks to the folders.

For the most part, i never go beyond the first page. But the apps on page two are useful and i use them maybe once a week.

Again, just because you have a billion apps at your disposal doesn't mean you have to have them all installed. Remove them for christs sake or quit your bitching.

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