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That's not a practical reality for many of us. Economics textbooks assume there are an infinite number of suppliers to choose from, but in reality there's ofte

That's not a practical reality for many of us. Economics textbooks assume there are an infinite number of suppliers to choose from, but in reality there's often only two or three, so "do something else" isn't often an option.

Jach 9y ago
I mean if you're dead set on mobile development, yeah, your choices are iOS and Android, and if you want to make more money, prioritizing iOS. But you don't have to be in mobile development. "Do something else" is an option, because there are a vast number of opportunities in the wider tech arena. That's what I'm getting at. Edit: also do you have any thoughts on the idea of legislation forcing you to maintain an old app? There's a Go game scoring app I use on android but it's buggy as hell, not as good as it used to be, as far as I can tell the developer keeps some servers on but hasn't updated it for a very long time. Should there be a law requiring him to keep the servers on? I can't use anything else on android (that I know of), I'd have to develop it myself.
- kartickv 9y ago
  Regarding your second point, I think it would be a very bad idea. Many apps bring in little money. Mine doesn't even pay for my Internet bill, let alone my other expenses, as a concrete example. If I'm forced legally to maintain them, I won't be able to take the risk of building more. I'll have to quit and take up a 9-to-5 job again. How much did you pay for that app? A few dollars? For that money, it's not realistic, given the economics, to expect support for a defined period of time. Enterprise contracts, as an example, do have a defined support period but are much costlier. Or you can outsource the development, or buy the app from the developer, all of which are much costlier than a few dollars. Or write it yourself, which is again much costlier in your time. It's simply not financially viable to guarantee that for a few dollars. Instead, it's more like a one-time thing: you buy what is offered today. There's no promise of updates. Heck, there isn't even a promise that the developer will keep the servers running. If the business isn't working out, despite the developer trying everything possible to make it work, the only option is to shut it down, which is no different from other businesses. This is the unfortunate reality.

Jach 9y ago

I mean if you're dead set on mobile development, yeah, your choices are iOS and Android, and if you want to make more money, prioritizing iOS. But you don't have to be in mobile development. "Do something else" is an option, because there are a vast number of opportunities in the wider tech arena. That's what I'm getting at. Edit: also do you have any thoughts on the idea of legislation forcing you to maintain an old app? There's a Go game scoring app I use on android but it's buggy as hell, not as good as it used to be, as far as I can tell the developer keeps some servers on but hasn't updated it for a very long time. Should there be a law requiring him to keep the servers on? I can't use anything else on android (that I know of), I'd have to develop it myself.

kartickv 9y ago
Regarding your second point, I think it would be a very bad idea. Many apps bring in little money. Mine doesn't even pay for my Internet bill, let alone my other expenses, as a concrete example. If I'm forced legally to maintain them, I won't be able to take the risk of building more. I'll have to quit and take up a 9-to-5 job again. How much did you pay for that app? A few dollars? For that money, it's not realistic, given the economics, to expect support for a defined period of time. Enterprise contracts, as an example, do have a defined support period but are much costlier. Or you can outsource the development, or buy the app from the developer, all of which are much costlier than a few dollars. Or write it yourself, which is again much costlier in your time. It's simply not financially viable to guarantee that for a few dollars. Instead, it's more like a one-time thing: you buy what is offered today. There's no promise of updates. Heck, there isn't even a promise that the developer will keep the servers running. If the business isn't working out, despite the developer trying everything possible to make it work, the only option is to shut it down, which is no different from other businesses. This is the unfortunate reality.