Ask a true developer, and deep down inside they feel that their work is not just a program, but a work of art. Somewhere along the way, personal sacrifices were made…lost sunshine, lost time, lost relationships, lost growth of your child. It also takes discipline to follow through on an idea. How many times have you heard a great idea out of someone, only to see it fade away?
So when this work of art becomes reality, it’s an exciting, and often emotional release. Then comes the moment of truth, and sometimes it gets bashed all to hell. Nothing seems to go right, you can’t catch a break. Noble intentions go out the window, and you are left holding pieces. Jagged broken pieces of something you once prized.
This has been my experience with Queekie. The iPhone Twitter wonder app that was going to change the way people twitter…for good. I was defeated, and in the words of “Rick and Bubba,” I was a wounded dog. My window of opportunity flailed at the hands of an unhappy customer that chose to label me as one star with a horrible execution.
See, that was the problem. It wasn’t Queekie that was rated, it was me. I made it. I am Queekie. Queekie is me. I tried to be nice, but the whole experience with the App Store makes it frustrating to serve your customers. I started making more bad decisions.
The reviewer killed my potential for sales…but in reality I learned so much more from this experience. In turn, I am making some changes to the way I work with the App Store:
#1: My apps will be introduced for free.
This will encourage better beta testing amongst a broad audience, and it will also limit the effects of a single reviewer to decimate your chances on the App Store. Now if it’s truly a wide spread dislike, then I reap what I sow.
#2: No more cheap apps.
I will most likely price my apps at $5.99 and above. My customers will invest in continued, sustained development on the app. Will that mean less sales? Maybe….maybe not. I’ll take my chances. If I can’t justify that price, then I probably won’t develop the app. I reserve the right to change my mind here, but earning .70 for a few sales a day means that I rarely see any money, because I have to accumulate $250 in a region before I get paid. I expect I’ll never get paid for some areas of the world.
#3: I might not do this at all anymore.
If I can’t develop anything useful, I’ll go back to my original realm where I develop a lot of great technology. Objective-C and Cocoa is new to me, so expect some learning on my part. I’m often hard on myself until I get reminded how young the App Store is. This is really a big experience that I don’t know if I’m prepared to stick with for the next decade.
#4: I am human. I didn’t create my apps to make your life a living hell.
I care about my software. I like people to be happy using it. I will help you, as long as you treat me with respect. Share your experience with me, and let me see what I can do to improve, or make the technology serve you better. There is never a need to talk down to me, and I’ll show you the same courtesy.
Anyway, I hope that provides some insight as to what I do, and what this experience is like. I’m tired now, and must go to sleep. I have a full-time job to work tomorrow, and a family that needs their dad when I get home. Ah, the life of an ambitious software engineer….
