App Development

AI guess Marc Cuban was right.  Ideas are easy.  Execution is hard.  Though I’ve had a really good idea for an Android app, I realize I don’t have the Java skills to write Android applications.  So now I’m having to go back and learn the necessary skills in order to execute on the idea that I had.  I think the idea is worth the effort.  I still think it’s just different enough to be completely unique. 

Could what I write make it to the top of the charts?  I think so.  I downloaded several games last night, and they were crap.  And yet they were at the top of the iPhone free games chart.  On one of them the controls didn’t work.  The other was a basic shooter on rails, except it was the same level over and over and over again.  It’s like they spent all their time on the game engine and didn’t have any time or money left to create content. 

I guess this all makes me realize that although the application markets for Android and iPhone are relatively mature, the content itself isn’t.  Everything is still very much in its infancy.  Many of the games are roughly the same game, except with different graphics and sounds.  A large number of the games fit into the on-rails category where the character moves forward and the player does something to keep that player moving forward.  It’s really just Temple Run with some slight variation. 

And that’s really the issue.  Most things are just slightly varied in comparison with the rest of the markets.  You get Angry Birds, then you get ten thousand variants of Angry Birds.  Then you get Temple Run, followed by three or four thousand variants.  The situation is a result of many people playing a game, deciding they can make the game “better than the original” and then producing it. 

But then, that’s the games side of things.  On other sides, you get the Wal-Mart app.  And it’s really just a link to their mobile website.  And in lots of businesses, that’s what constitutes having a mobile presence.

I guess I’m being too harsh, but there isn’t much originality when it comes to the mobile markets.  The second obvious question to all this is: do you need originality?  Phones are designed for rapid, simple interaction.  A twitch reaction, if you will.  Twitch, look at phone.  Twitch, look somewhere else.  Twitch, and back to phone.  It’s very different from the console experiences where companies want you to invest three or four hours at a time.  In the mobile world, most are looking for a 15 to 20 seconds of interaction at a time.   It’s hard to develop buy-in when you only get 20 seconds. 

The other part is my idea is only slightly original.  It’s an extension of an existing idea, and therein lies its uniqueness.  But it’s not the “killer app”, nor is it the next best thing since sliced bread.  It’s just a slight variation in a theme.