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Really? This is upvoted on HN and on the front page? What are the apps? Let's see, all super simple, very marginal quality gag apps, presumably with lots of

Really? This is upvoted on HN and on the front page? What are the apps? Let's see, all super simple, very marginal quality gag apps, presumably with lots of ads since that is the income. And an e-book on how to do this? How to flood the Android market with apps that exist ten times over so you can make a few pennies off the ads? Do we really need updates on this monthly? Yes, you can make a little money shoveling endless crap and putting ads on it. But I don't personally find it something to aspire to. </rant>

andrewljohnson 15y ago
I think he's scrappy, and I love how a man can pull himself up by whatever boot straps he can find. He might not be making a killing (yet) or making anything you care about (yet), but he's making stuff by himself and making money. How many can say the same?
- nicpottier 15y ago
  I've been working for myself for quite a while, and I even made some apps that were along the same lines at one point and did well off of them. (much better than this) But I wasn't shoveling them out, I was spending some time on them and making them great. There are lots of ways of making money, lots of ways to work for yourself, but that doesn't mean they should all be lauded. There are a dozen broken screen apps in the Android market, I bet there are a dozen for all the apps he's made. I mean this is just spam in the market man.. come on.
  - andrewljohnson 15y ago
    I don't like to call another person's work spam unless there is a big reason to do so. As far as I can tell, he's an honest developer trying to get by. FYI, I have what I would call a thriving app business on iPhone/Android, much bigger than the OP. However, I don't think my work makes his work any less meaningful. If you want to go rag on some spammers, there are plenty of people actually spamming people with their websites and email campaigns. I don't see how a broken screen app is comparable to stealing an email address and sending viagra spam. Or even on the same level as Honestly.com, which tricks users into giving over contact info.
- bane 15y ago
  The thing I like best is how he's hitting lots of revenue channels at once and tracking them. Something I learned from his posts that I never even considered was selling stock photos. But talk about multi-faceted! It's entrepreneurship at it's finest!
dpcan 15y ago
I'd consider his apps novelty apps, but I don't see why that's a problem. You can buy smiling rocks and fart scented candles in stores, and nobody cries fowl. Many apparently find his apps rather delightful, and though they aren't for everyone, there appears to be a niche. His posts get upvoted because he quit his day job and he's following a dream. It's inspirational at its core, not to mention he's being transparent and vocal about it. I don't know what's in his ebook. That's my only hesitation when replying.
nicpottier 15y ago
Really? Downvoting? Please comment on why you think this is frontpage material while you are at it. The apps are crummy, there's no denying that. How does that fit in with typical HN content of trying to build good, no, great, products? And an ebook on how to do it? sigh
- tomjen3 15y ago
  Point is that it doesn't matter if the apps sucks (haven't bothered to look at them) - he has made something people want, which is what we are talking about here on hacker news. Sometimes what people want is very, very complicated -- real-time collaborative document sharing and sometimes it is hello word with a random number generator attached (bingocardcreator.com).
- cellis 15y ago
  Make something people want. Not "build the next Facebook". Not "be the next Andrew Mason or Mark Pincus". Not "prove your mastery of social UX by founding the next Quora". Nope, just make something people want. You never know where that will lead to.
- csomar 15y ago
  You didn't ask "Please comment on why you think this is frontpage material while you are at it." on your first comment. You are saying something like "You stupid HN crowd, this shouldn't be on front page and it's useless". You are not the one who decides things that get to the front page, but I don't bother answering if you asked why I upvoted it: It's interesting.
aquarin 15y ago
Don't worry. Recently HN is just a place for mediocre people. Nothing to see here.
- hcho 15y ago
  That was uncalled for. OP is from an ex-communist country, probably with a not very business savy culture and he is limited to ad-supported models, as Google won't let developers from his country to sell on the market. Yet, he manages to make more money than working for the man. His story is much more outstanding than most of the HNs users.
  - aquarin 15y ago
    I am from ex-communist country. Nothing to say more.
phatbyte 15y ago
It's not that his apps are innovative, but it's not up to you to decide if they are spam or not. Why don't you show us your apps as well ? I bet I'll find something to criticize

andrewljohnson 15y ago

I think he's scrappy, and I love how a man can pull himself up by whatever boot straps he can find. He might not be making a killing (yet) or making anything you care about (yet), but he's making stuff by himself and making money. How many can say the same?

nicpottier 15y ago
I've been working for myself for quite a while, and I even made some apps that were along the same lines at one point and did well off of them. (much better than this) But I wasn't shoveling them out, I was spending some time on them and making them great. There are lots of ways of making money, lots of ways to work for yourself, but that doesn't mean they should all be lauded. There are a dozen broken screen apps in the Android market, I bet there are a dozen for all the apps he's made. I mean this is just spam in the market man.. come on.
- andrewljohnson 15y ago
  I don't like to call another person's work spam unless there is a big reason to do so. As far as I can tell, he's an honest developer trying to get by. FYI, I have what I would call a thriving app business on iPhone/Android, much bigger than the OP. However, I don't think my work makes his work any less meaningful. If you want to go rag on some spammers, there are plenty of people actually spamming people with their websites and email campaigns. I don't see how a broken screen app is comparable to stealing an email address and sending viagra spam. Or even on the same level as Honestly.com, which tricks users into giving over contact info.
bane 15y ago
The thing I like best is how he's hitting lots of revenue channels at once and tracking them. Something I learned from his posts that I never even considered was selling stock photos. But talk about multi-faceted! It's entrepreneurship at it's finest!

dpcan 15y ago

I'd consider his apps novelty apps, but I don't see why that's a problem. You can buy smiling rocks and fart scented candles in stores, and nobody cries fowl. Many apparently find his apps rather delightful, and though they aren't for everyone, there appears to be a niche. His posts get upvoted because he quit his day job and he's following a dream. It's inspirational at its core, not to mention he's being transparent and vocal about it. I don't know what's in his ebook. That's my only hesitation when replying.

nicpottier 15y ago

Really? Downvoting? Please comment on why you think this is frontpage material while you are at it. The apps are crummy, there's no denying that. How does that fit in with typical HN content of trying to build good, no, great, products? And an ebook on how to do it? sigh

tomjen3 15y ago
Point is that it doesn't matter if the apps sucks (haven't bothered to look at them) - he has made something people want, which is what we are talking about here on hacker news. Sometimes what people want is very, very complicated -- real-time collaborative document sharing and sometimes it is hello word with a random number generator attached (bingocardcreator.com).
cellis 15y ago
Make something people want. Not "build the next Facebook". Not "be the next Andrew Mason or Mark Pincus". Not "prove your mastery of social UX by founding the next Quora". Nope, just make something people want. You never know where that will lead to.
csomar 15y ago
You didn't ask "Please comment on why you think this is frontpage material while you are at it." on your first comment. You are saying something like "You stupid HN crowd, this shouldn't be on front page and it's useless". You are not the one who decides things that get to the front page, but I don't bother answering if you asked why I upvoted it: It's interesting.

aquarin 15y ago

Don't worry. Recently HN is just a place for mediocre people. Nothing to see here.

hcho 15y ago
That was uncalled for. OP is from an ex-communist country, probably with a not very business savy culture and he is limited to ad-supported models, as Google won't let developers from his country to sell on the market. Yet, he manages to make more money than working for the man. His story is much more outstanding than most of the HNs users.
- aquarin 15y ago
  I am from ex-communist country. Nothing to say more.

phatbyte 15y ago

It's not that his apps are innovative, but it's not up to you to decide if they are spam or not. Why don't you show us your apps as well ? I bet I'll find something to criticize