rfelix2121

Me too. I'd much rather build something amazing that everyone picked up on immediately and that they thought was amazing, but that's not the App Store reality now. :(

I've only had tons of experience with iOS apps, (only have one Android app, and it's "free", tied to a paid web service) so I wasn't exactly sure how my knowledge applied across the board.

I somewhat agree. I wrote this from the standpoint of someone who's released a number of apps, some which have done well, and some which have not. There's always the frustration that I spent all this time on this thing that I thought was awesome, but that no one cared about actually using. It's targeted at people who have built those apps, know that pain and just want to make something that people will actually buy this time.

I have definitely written a number of apps that were super awesome and pushed the envelope, but they didn't actually sell, because they were before the market was ready, or in the wrong market, etc.

Definitely very true.

That's a huge part. I'll probably write an article just on that at some point.

I've definitely had apps reviewed on AppAdvice and not seen a dramatic bump. I think it really depends on the app, what people are currently buying, and a lot of other factors. On the promotion part, I totally agree. What's worked for me on that front is to make friends with people in the press (on twitter, IM, email) way before I need articles written so when I need press it's really easy to get written up because they already know who I am.

Also check out my iPhone app that helps you to never forget about movies that you want to see, or miss movies from your favorite directors/actors: http://flickd.net

That kind of thinking is the exact type that will lead you to wondering why you can't find a programming job when you're 40.

Actually, AWDWR contained a complete tutorial for building a Rails app. I basically had an idea, popped open the book and instead of building the app in the book, used the concepts/instructions to build Hngry instead. For instance, I read about how to create new database models, and instead of making the ones the book wanted, I made restaurant/user/menu item models instead.

I wasn't trying to say that there's a problem with Codecademy et al, I'm trying to say that there's a problem with going into it with the wrong mindset/expectations.

Exactly.

I'm definitely not saying it isn't useful, just that people shouldn't be going in with expectations of superhero coding ability when they come out the other side. I'm sure it will become more and more useful over time.

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