Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8652016

by umenline • 12 years ago

16 24 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I asked the same question 854 days ago .. i still love desktop app's wander if small indies can make a living from it ?

There's a much higher probability of getting that question answered on the Business of Software Forum which can be accessed through joelonsoftware.com

umenline7• 12 years ago

Its dead , Almost no one there ( used to love Business of Software Forum)

dstpierre• 12 years ago

I guess you have your question answered than. I was also a BoS forum user since 2008.

With the XYZ (Apple, Microsoft) stores these days I wonder if a $39-99 desktop software can truly have success on these compare the the average < $9 app.

High-end B2B software can certainly be profitable, I would guess the $500-2500 software coming with support, integration, training etc.

sireat• 12 years ago

Let's assume Desktop includes Mac, Windows and Linux.

First You need an app that solves a need (doesn't matter if other commercial or open source alternatives exist) and does not completely suck.

That's the easy part.

Then you need a channel to display your app. That also does not seem so hard these days. Mac, Windows both have stores, we can consider Synaptic and Ubuntu store thing to be a channel too(setting aside money question for now).

Unfortunately channel is not going to suffice.

The hard part is getting a funnel, that is a way to guide your prospective customers to your product.

One method perfected by patio11 was to create SEO friendly content for one audience, but use the SEO juice to sell to completely different audience. This is very very hard to do.

Of course, if you already have your own channel(nice e-mail list), then you can push your apps too.

But building an e-mail list is again very hard.

The days of late 1980s shareware boom have been over for a long time, but I suspect with razor sharp focus there are still some success stories(paging Patio11 and his Bingo Card Creator).

Disclaimer: I write internal apps at mediumcorp for a living and have no personal indie success stories.

mike_hearn• 12 years ago

You mean other than Notch, or anyone in the video games business, or the iLife team at Apple, or the Microsoft Office team?

Sure. Lots of people are making money from desktop apps. Just because it's not hip or cool these days doesn't mean it's useless.

umenline7• 12 years ago

I don't care about hip or not I talking about huge market of pc's By the way you have any examples?

vram225• 12 years ago

You mean other than Notch, or anyone in ...

Heh, good comment about Notch, and the others you mention too. For those who don't know, from the Wikipedia article about Notch - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Persson :

"He is planning to stop working on this game after a recent deal with Microsoft to sell Minecraft for 2.5 billion dollars."

A huge outlier, of course, but the potential exists.

sebg• 12 years ago

This is the canonical article I point people to when this question comes up: http://www.evanmiller.org/why-i-develop-for-the-mac.html

Evan is a frequent contributor here on HN and it's also worth reading most of his other articles/posts as well.

vram225• 12 years ago

I read a few of his posts after seeing your comment. They are quite interesting, thanks.

umenline7• 12 years ago

Example of someone or small team ( i guess ) that doing useful desktop apps http://www.hkvstore.com/ someone knows something about them ?

tabulatouch2• 12 years ago

I am making a living with my windows only projection mapping application http://www.facadesignage.com It started in 2006 but went online 2 years ago, and that was my best idea ever (i mean going online). I learned a lot about software, products, funnels, marketing and niches. And best of all: narrowing down the user pain and solving it at the UI level.

umenline7• 12 years ago

Great application and great idea This is what I ment Wish you more success in your niche

tabulatouch2• 12 years ago

Thanks!

soylentcola• 12 years ago

Nice! Also a great example of what's being discussed in this thread. I'm interested in this sort of thing and I've tried several packages but I have never heard of yours. I will be checking out the trial when I get home from work later tonight.

razster• 12 years ago

The company I work for makes a living off Enrollment software and Demographic software for Windows. A lot of our clients do not wish to have their systems connected/cloud.

I do not see a change anytime soon.

umenline7• 12 years ago

This is also good example for great niche: http://www.collectorz.com/

Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?

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