Is finding a job in the mobile app industry the way to go?

[badvillain]

As someone said read up on computer science in general and get the basic fundamentals of programming languages and syntax down, in terms of programming the worst thing you could do is specialize and consume your time with a niche language/market (unless you're the best in that niche and charge huge fees)

I personally believe mobile app creation and its profits will go down in the future, due to responsive web programming taking off. Most small business's/clients don't want another cms to control an app, or pay double for iOS and Android development. The big corporations will continue to control the app market, they have the budgets to do so. But if more smaller to medium companies get denied by the apple app store, you'll continue to see even more web apps emerge.

let's say i'm not the best programmer but i've got great app ideas...what do u suggest?

They don't want you, they want your idea...

 

[Data-Hawk]

let's say i'm not the best programmer but i've got great app ideas...what do u suggest?

Well,you could hire developers( depending on the complexity and length of development time ).. The app Photo 365 was an idea by a non-programmer and he contracted it out for around $1,600. He made $4,000k the first weekend( he blogged about it somewhere ).

Programmers are probably going to charge more now-a-days and its going to take more than a great idea( everybody thinks they have one ) Here's a good example :

Temple Run ( created by 3 people ), when they put the app out, it didn't sell @ all for 99c. So they switched it up. they released it for FREE, but with in-game purchases, now they are over 100 million downloads.


I suggest learning to programming and targeting Windows 8 store( you'd have a better chance of success *RIGHT NOW* ).

 

[Data-Hawk]

As someone said just learn computer science and get the basic fundamentals of computer languages and syntax down, in terms of programming the worst thing you could do is specialize and consume your time with a niche language/market (unless you're the best in that niche and charge huge fees)

I personally believe mobile app creation and its profits will go down in the future, due to responsive web programming taking off. Most small business's/clients don't want another cms to control an app, or pay double for iOS and Android development. The big corporations will continue to control the app market, they have the budgets to do so. But if more smaller to medium companies get denied by the apple app store, you'll continue to see even more web apps emerge.


They don't want you, they want your idea...

Profits are already down due to the stores being crowded. For all these success stories, 100x people have failed. But even if you dont hit it big, it's a great way to made some side $$$$.

For example, Check out touchacarde.com , theres 3 - 5 games being released an hr over there, most people won't be able to live off the apps alone, but you'll hear alot of " I made $2,000" off my app.

and if I remeber correctly only about 50 - 60% of people in the U.S are on smartphones( I could be wrong ), So the user base is still growing.

 

[badvillain]

Profits are already down due to the stores being crowded. For all these success stories, 100x people have failed. But even if you dont hit it big, it's a great way to made some side $$$$.

For example, Check out touchacarde.com , theres 3 - 5 games being released an hr over there, most people won't be able to live off the apps alone, but you'll hear alot of " I made $2,000" off my app.

and if I remeber correctly only about 50 - 60% of people in the U.S are on smartphones( I could be wrong ), So the user base is still growing.

Right, but that's where responsive web programming comes in. I think there will always be a need for some core mobile apps, but as CSS3 and HTML5 progress I don't see much need in pure app development in future of the smartphone market. Although I do agree with you that since the Windows App market is so new, a talented programmer could make a name quickly with a nice app. Also Blackberry has been hooking up programmers that want to work with them.

I could be biased, I work at an agency as a responsive web programmer....we always tell clients its going to be 50-150k for the mobile app...or for 35-55k you can get a responsive web site that's SEO friendly.

Glad to see people starting to recognize this computer shyt as a hustle though. I got a full sleeve on one of my arms, make my own hours and live a decent life without having to follow the rules most workers do.

 

[Serious]

Glad to see people starting to recognize this computer shyt as a hustle though. I got a full sleeve on one of my arms, make my own hours and live a decent life without having to follow the rules most workers do.

I can't do that 9-5 steeze.

I can't do it

 

[Data-Hawk]

Another thing I wanted to add about this being a good time to be a programmer IMHO. is that even though the mobile space is blowing up, The desktop apps aren't going anywhere, companies will still need programmers to maintain legacy code/keep apps up-to-date.

I know these tablet vendors want everybody to be on tablets and stuff, but you wont see desktop/laptops being replaced in the work place anytime soon ( yes it's happening here and there )

 

[badvillain]

True Data-Hawk...I don't see traditional desktops/laptops being replaced until we shift more towards multi-point touchpads verus touch screens:

[ame=http://vimeo.com/6712657]10/GUI on Vimeo[/ame]

Also I wanted to drop a little encouragement and advice I wish I would have been told when I started. Regardless of what language you choose to code in(i specialize in jQuery and php), the most important thing to grasp is logic and being dynamic.

Most of my code throughout the day ends up reading like this (Logic):

  If(this happens){
     do this
  } else if(this other event happens){
     do this instead
  } else {
    do this if none of the above happened
  }

And the dynamic part is just coding things as generically and flexible as possible. You want to create apps or sites, you don't want to be responsible for managing its content(aka the bytch work).

 

[Vagina Thief]

subs. ​

 

[Finesse]

Programming and Computer Science is definitely the place to be right now. With technology becoming part of everyday life more and more; demand for expert programmers is going to keep on going up.

 

[daze23]

as long as cell phones are around app developers will eat good breh

and you think the cell phone market is gonna dry up anytime soon?

as an older guy that's seen plenty of tech come and go, who knows what the future holds. but I will say the knowledge needed to develop apps will most likely be useful regardless