jamocon

So the comments here so far seem to be lamenting the price, which is kind of ironic given the crowd this place draws.

The (possible) price range given is somewhere between $1-2000. Yes that's high but not obscenely so. Infact I'd guess a majority of you spend that on a yearly/bi yearly basis on a certain laptop for its brand merit and half that yearly for the latest phone "upgrade".

Let's face it though, the price isn't going to be an issue for the early adopters and any techie, or "nerd" really worth his salt can see the potential of this tech. That's not to say that this specific device has that potential, after all Magic Leap has been less than forthcoming, they've made some claims and not really backed them up. At the moment, they don't need to. Sure it could be a scheme to suck money from investors and swindle early adopters, but it could just as well be excellent marketing. Either way they've certainly generated a buzz.

They also mentioned it could be a replacement for a phone and why not? Integrate a 4/5G sim and your golden, though I can't see even the most hardcore wearing these things for ~14 hours a day perhaps it could be some sort of external BT connected lightweight minimal device - after all what's a phone? A speaker, a microphone and a cellular connection. That would open up the possibility for the "average" user to get it much the same way they get their $1000 dollar iphone, subsidized at 20-30 a month.

Fact is, we won't know until it's out in the wild and the hands of hackers/developers for 6 months. Fact is that one day this kind of tech will be ubiquitous.

Thanks. I actually have a little experience with both of them so that'll help. 1 of the reason I was considering building a custom forum implementation was the learning experience but after a little research yesterday I may have slightly underestimated the task/time frame.

I'm not actually selling, nor creating a product. It's more of a educational thing, both for me (I've already learned a bit about SCADA systems, no doubt I'll learn more in different areas) and hopefully others. The forum part for instance serves 2 purposes, 1 it's part of a egg hunt & basic crypto level and 2. To satisfy my own nostalgia for old forums and hopefully bring a couple like minded people together :)

PS. There are no tips here

Just because you don't understand how something is possible, doesn't mean it's impossible ;).

I'm single, I have no Children. My share of rent is 400/m, chuck on ~100 for utilities. I live with 3 others. It's north west London, around a half hour - 40 minute commute by train into central. I leave the house every day. I wouldn't agree that it's "barely a step above poverty" as I grew up in poverty and I've probably never been happier, or healthier.

As for watching every penny, yes and no. Usually I spend around 20-30/week on food. Which is more than a friend who is actively trying to watch his spending and minimise his outgoings. What I don't do, any more, is eat out or drink the likes of Costa. I stopped drinking costa once I tracked my spending on it for a couple weeks last year and saw in front of my eyes I was spending ~10/day on, quite frankly shitty coffee.

The eating out part started off last year purely for health reasons, I wanted to trim down some weight, cut down on my processed food and sugar intake. Subjective of course, but I think you would be amazed at just how bad things taste once you've eaten "clean" for a few weeks. For instance last week I popped in to Wenzels and grabbed a sausage roll, took 1 bite at it looked down and thought what the hell is that, that isn't meat. I chucked it in the bin outside the door and grabbed a packet of peanuts. I used to enjoy the occasional pasty but I think my taste has changed.

Food wise, I eat a nice bit of steak once or twice a week, chicken, fish, fresh vegetables and a range of nuts. I spend ~ 120/month on supplements and protein powder. It can be done, just shop smartly and take advantage of bulk buying in combination with offers and you automatically save a fortune. I don't do the whole cook 14 meals on a Sunday thing like another 1 of my cousins but that's because I've tried it and by Thursday I think the food loses its taste.

Just remember little things add up while your on the go, so those 2 coffees, a snack here, bit of lunch there and you've easily spent 15 in a day, multiply that over the course of a year and you've sunk ~4k on crap with little nutritional value, just to keep you going. A travel mug for your own coffee and making your own lunch will save you money in the long run and it doesn't have to be time intensive.

Your best tool for reducing your out goings is a bit of paper and a pin. Sit down for an hour and work out what your spending and where you can save money.

London, UK. As conwy mentioned, it's not luxurious but it is doable. It helps I'm not really all that social, I don't like crowds, nor wasting money. Don't get me wrong I've done my fair share of both and I still go out once a month, but I have a limit on what I will spend because trust me it is far to easy to go into central London and end up spending a ridiculous amount of money.

Most of my socialising in the past 6 months has been staying in or going to a friends house. A couple times a week, we will cook each other dinner, maybe have a beer and generally just relax. It's basically a "habit" now and 1 that I really quite enjoy, all of our cooking levels have improved and we experiment a lot both with simple dishes and different styles. There's only been 1 occasion when we've all said no and thrown it out, admittedly my fault. I seriously misjudged some chillies, lol.

Also, as cowy said the bay area is 1 of the more expensive places to live. You make a choice to live there, I know it might not be that simple, but it is a choice none the less.

If travellings your thing, on a 12k/y budget you could do most of Europe, Asia and probably more. I did the calculations once when considering travelling for a couple years, of course your not going to be staying at 5* hotels in a gated community, fine dining, but that imho isn't travelling.

Why?

I have a number, well 2. The first being a stepping stone, a marker to reach, the point where I can step back for a year, re-evaluate and consider if I want to shoot for the next target. Neither of the numbers are high, the first with some savy investments I could make last the rest of my life but I'm a relatively simple guy, I could live on ~12k a year easily. That includes rent, bills, food, clothes etc.

For me, it's not about stopping work. I generally love the things I do, the projects and concepts I develop in my spare time. For me, that's not working, it's a passion.

My second number is all about that, it's about being able to buy the ability to do what ever the fuck I want. Ideally I want a nice plot of land in a relatively remote area with some workshops and enough in the bank where I don't have to worry about bills and I can fund whatever project takes my interest.

As a hypothetical this an interesting question, for me at least, but you're a bit too vague.

Obviously your talking about development, coding, but what's your area? Back-end? Front-end? Mobile? Desktop? Server? Which OS are you targeting? Macs? Windows? Linux?

Then of course, what's the number? How much do you need/want?

A vague answer for a vague question: Build something in an area you're familiar with that addresses a pain point you have or people in your network have, make them your first "customer", give it to them for "free" in return for feedback.

Another: Build something for a niche, spend a couple days researching your chosen niche and find a small-moderate sized community that you can easily (quickly) immerse yourself in. Be honest about your intentions.

More importantly though, adjust your expectations. Realistically there's not a single thing (that I can currently think of, off the top of my head) that you can build in a week that you can sell "for years to come" without work, if you're looking for a passive income the answer is real estate.

Technology moves fast, updates will be required. Maintenance will be required. Development is mostly an iterative process. Users will request features. Features will introduce bugs and so on and so fourth.

Also what do you mean by bootstraping a business? You can be a registered business entity within a couple hours. Which means shit if you don't have a product/plan.

Good luck :)