Hey, this is the Daily Overpass! My name is Eric and I make apps! Now today, I want
to answer the question, "Should you stop doing app development?"
Alright, so last week, I did a video called "The Biggest Problem with
Progressive Web Apps" and I got a comment on that video from Epic Plan which said,
"So my question for you, what would you advise to someone who has just started
developing Android apps? Should that person leave Android/iOS development?" And
I just - I responded just saying, "No, that's not what I'm saying at all, right? Which
would probably wasn't the best response. But my point about progressive web apps
were - that I don't think they're ready yet. I think it, you know, they're might be
around the corner. I hope they take off. And I think my biggest point was that,
progressive web apps - it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue as in terms of a
name. However, I don't think that we should continue to keep going to the
next thing, and the next thing and the next thing. There seems to be a
a natural progression of how things work. It's - a new technology will come
out. Some people will start making money with it. Then someone will say. "Hey, I'll
make - I'll make money writing a book, about how to get rich doing that one
thing." Then everyone crowds into it and then it gets - it gets more difficult. So,
we've seen this happen, like we've seen Apple with email. Some people
start using email. It's really useful. It's good for communication with friends
and colleagues and everything like that. And then somebody starts email marketing.
And then there's all the books, How to Get Rich - Email Marketing. And then
everyone starts doing it. Everyone rushes into that market. Then again, then we had
spam filters and then everything gets more difficult to do. It starts to cost
more and it's too crowded and everyone says they move on to the next thing.
We've seen it happen to email. We've seen it happen to social media. We've seen it
happen to the web. We've seen it happen with apps. I mean, how many books have you
seen about how to get rich making apps, right? And we'll probably see it with
YouTube videos. We've seen it with Kindle books, How to Get Rich Writing Kindle
Books and just so many people out there writing books for the Kindle that are
not - are not having that big 50 Shades of Grey moment that they're expecting.
And we sit with every market, so you can either be the person who goes from one
market to the next, to the next and hopefully you're that person who
discovers it before anybody else does. And then as soon as it gets too crowded,
you move on, and for that easy money or give you the person who put your
stakes in the ground and starts to work with it. Like I can tell you what,
marketing apps and releasing apps ,making money with apps is much harder today
than it was in 2013. But it just means you have to work harder. I mean, difficult
does not mean it's the same as impossible. And what progressive web app sets as
exactly what's gonna happen. If that really takes off and becomes mainstream,
there's gonna be a few people who get into progressive web apps, are gonna
start making some money with it. Then somebody's gonna - somebody
who's probably not making money with it will write a book saying How to Get Rich
with Progressive Web Apps and then everyone will start doing it. Then it
will become too crowded and then it'll be the same situation again. Then
those people will move on to the next thing. So, that's just it. So, if you - if
you're starting to think about it now, I would go out there and register the
domain if it's not registered already for "How to Get Rich with Progressive Web
Apps" because that might be worth something someday. But I really
doubt it because I'm hoping they change the name. So anyway, you can't just always
move on to the next thing. The grass is always gonna be greener.
I know I'm stuck in the app thing. I'm committed to being an app
developer. We've got clients, we still got lots of work coming through, it's not the
ridiculous thing like the same as when the .com bubble burst. When
everybody was releasing their pets.com and everybody thought- the web - I'm gonna
become an internet billionaire with my website. And it's just some
ridiculous website idea. And then once the bubble bursts, everyone moved
on to something else except for the people continue doing web. And you know,
web still makes money, things still make money. It's just not the
hysteria moves on. So, I hope that makes sense. Anyway, no, I don't think you should
move on. Yeah, and do something else just because doing app development is
difficult. Everything becomes difficult eventually. So anyway, that's it for today.
I'll talk to you, guys, tomorrow.