I experimented with one of my apps (www.TommyTeaches.com). I made the mistake of releasing it as a paid app at first. It didn't do so well. I switched it to

I experimented with one of my apps (www.TommyTeaches.com). I made the mistake of releasing it as a paid app at first. It didn't do so well. I switched it to free and it took off. Everyone at my kid's school got it and they let others know. Through analytics I can see it is being used for long periods of time by many kids every day. Tried the teaching approach with kids with mild learning disabilities and it made a difference in a number of cases. All of that is good, however the problem is that in order to be able to justify completing the series I have to show revenue. Placing ads in apps for 3~5 year old kids is not an option. One thought was to place ads in screens off the main game (Settings, etc.) to at least capture a minor revenue stream. I have that build but haven't released it yet. The problem with the expectation of everything being free is what it does to the ability to innovate and explore. Apps don't cost zero to develop. As much as it hurts me to think it, I am not sure I can justify attempting to innovate at the early education market because there's virtually no money in it for the vast majority of developers. Even paying for logo and graphic design is impossible when your revenue is zero or near zero. For me at least there seems to be far more traction and revenue in the specialized utilities segment. On the other hand, it is hard to pay the iOS software world attention when we can charge $250 to $350 per hour for mechanical, electronics hardware and software development in certain verticals.