What food for thought? Choose to throw your life away on meaningless shit so you can say you made some money, or do something you care about?
Most of us here could easily make a $200k consulting a year.
Does it make you happy?
No.
Would making shite apps and essentially scamming people make most of the people here happy?
No.
You gotta remember that the kind of person who does this kind of shit is basically a bit of a social pariah, a social retard. They're no different from the internet 'marketers' or the online pharmacies or any of that crap.
They don't care a bit about supplying shit and calling it gold.
To me there's not even a moment's thought about this kind of stuff, I have no respect for people making crap like this, only pity. To waste your life conning other people is a tragedy, not a triumph.
I think making massive money on crap that enables you to spend time on things you actually do value - be they other apps, a family, hobby or passion to save the world - is a perfectly valid way to live life.
Your post sounds like nothing more than sour grapes.
Well, have fun doing your human exploitation startups. It's not for me, I can't do it.
It's just not in me. It's not sour grapes, it's just utter incomprehension on why anyone would spend their life exploiting others. I just don't understand the motivation behind it.
I actually do not think it's a perfectly valid way of life, I think it's evil and sociopathic. But that's my opinion and you have yours.
Depends... making money on crap (that the market and people want) is OK as long as you use it to spend time on things that you think would be useful for people, the society. Spending this time (i.e. money) on yourself (family, hobby, whatnot) is not ethical.
Photo cropping, unit conversion, and medical dictionary apps were some the examples mentioned. They don't misrepresent their offerings, they fulfill a legitimate need, they aren't spamming -- you have to search out and install it -- and the apps are free. If you aren't happy with the product you can readily delete it. I have a hard time seeing how anyone is being 'conned' here. Clearly it's not a huge contribution to society, but what's the injustice that has got you so riled up?
There's a wide yawning gulf of difference between $17000 a month and $80000 a month. One is the average for a senior SW rockstar in the Valley and can afford you a nice 3BR/2BA "meh" house in SF that may very well be on the border of Sketchytown; the other (if consistent and/or repeatable) is Burj al-Arab 3000 square foot suite on holiday, owning condo a short walk to the Marina and the Palace of Fine Arts, FU money.
And, what makes you think they aren't doing something they care about? They are attacking niches within the app store with extreme prejudice. And, that in itself is allowing them to do whatever they feel like doing. The ultimate goal of building a business is to gain the resources to help you manage your _time_ the way you see fit, whether that is through philanthropic causes, building lasting businesses in other areas, self-actualization, focusing on the family, or examining the finer things in life. The #1 goal on DHH's and Zuck's and Ballmer's mind-- the double super secret final endzone fat lady singing goal-- is money. Let's _never_ forget that.
And, how is making derivative apps and giving it away to make ad revenue "shite"? It's simply another avenue to success. I guess patio11 should just hang his head in shame for working on "yet another work scheduler app". This line of thinking is just lazy and supremely pompous.
Moreover, how does conducting a very public and financially candid interview merit being called "a social retard?" That's just such a vicious and insulting attack that I can't even begin to see why anyone would upvote it. Pathetic. And, the envy in you is so deep and bile-ridden as to be wading in it.
With all due respect, I think you need to step off of your high horse and realize that there is value created, even in crappy apps that spam. Sure it's not as "beautiful" as a well done app that took many man hours of creation/polishing, etc. but it gets the job done and gives access to some people who may not otherwise have it.
Also, making cash in order to buy the freedom to do the things that make you happy I believe is righteous.
Further, I fail to see how their actions are "scamming people"? They are creating FREE apps. If the user doesn't like it, they can delete it. It is not as though they are SELLING subpar apps and then giving people the finger when they as for a refund. There is no scam in a value for value transaction and, by downloading a free app, it seems to me they ought to expect them not to be of the highest quality and/or to have ads.
As a college student juggling far too many small contracting jobs, a 15 hour/ week part time job, and a relatively intense courseload, I find myself saying similar things. I could drop out, quit my part time job, and probably make significant money consulting/contracting. Yet something inside me says that would be meaningless.
Have you tried the apps? Clearly, a lot of people found them useful. So, on what basis are you calling it crap? Just because they outsourced the development and a made a lot of money?
I think they are more likely to be scamming advertisers than people. I get what you mean, many many people around here could make these kind of apps if they were so motivated to.
It's the same with online ads, should I just fill my site with mobile phone charging ads because they give me the best CPM or should I put ads there that actually may benefit a user?
Most of us here could easily make a $200k consulting a year.
Does it make you happy?
No.
Would making shite apps and essentially scamming people make most of the people here happy?
No.
You gotta remember that the kind of person who does this kind of shit is basically a bit of a social pariah, a social retard. They're no different from the internet 'marketers' or the online pharmacies or any of that crap.
They don't care a bit about supplying shit and calling it gold.
To me there's not even a moment's thought about this kind of stuff, I have no respect for people making crap like this, only pity. To waste your life conning other people is a tragedy, not a triumph.