Very interesting blog post from Louie Mantia, icon and user interface designer working at the Iconfactory.
Here’s an excerpt:
“We’re quick to blame the App Store for not having an easy way to browse thousands of applications, but we never had that on Mac OS X, and our products sold just fine over there. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t “browse” websites for software. If I need some software for my Mac, I search Google for keywords on what I am looking for and find relevant results. So I don’t think there’s much browsing on the App Store as we all seem to think there is.
So what’s the problem? Why are we worried about the App Store if it’s just a download link? Well, simply put, I think we’re all jealous. We’ve seen “success” stories of people who have developed apps that made it into the Top 10. We’ve seen ridiculously stupid applications make it up there and make “tons of money,” but how is that different from any other kind of business?
In my hometown of Webster Groves, there’s a nice local bar and grill type of place that has some really great burgers. They’re like $5-10 or something like that, depending on what kind and what toppings you get. Quality stuff. But right across the street, there’s a McDonald’s. Now, of course, that McDonald’s has people rushing through the drive-thru and walking in and out of their store, bags in-hand. Those burgers can cost from $1-5, for example. They’re not really quality, but they’re a cheap, faster alternative.
My point is, just because that McDonald’s has all these people buying up their cheap burgers doesn’t mean that place across the street can’t sell deliciously better seven and a half dollar burgers. They might not sell as many, but it’s not about that. Again, success is measured when you can turn a profit. As long as those guys are making money and can run their business, they’re successful.”
Overall, I agree with Louie. Many developers seem only able to complain about the flaws of the AppStore instead of working hard to create better applications and better websites. Sure, the AppStore may have many problems, but the change should start from you developers, guys.
