Wozniak to Judge American Idol-Inspired Mac App Contest

cmundhe writes "Mac entrepreneur Phill Ryu today launched My Dream App, a new American Idol-inspired online competition where contestants can win the chance to have their killer app idea realized by experienced Mac developers. Over forty industry luminaries, including Apple founder Steve Wozniak, have signed on to My Dream App as guest judges to help contestants hone their ideas."

Comments

Re:Outsourcing gone mad or a good idea?

[dshaw858]

just like high-concept movie ideas where a one-sentence summary gets turned into a 90-minute film.

Snakes on a Plane was longer than 90 minutes!

Re:So much for Appley originality

[thelost]

I'm not sure where the "american idol" comparison came from (well i am actually, some inflammatory print written by the guy who submitted this story) but mydreamapp.com doesn't state any such thing. Check the front page. And also claiming something about Apple originality is pointless, this has nothing to do with Apple the company. This is a competition for software that will be developed by independent software developers and judged by some pretty in the know panelists. This isn't high drama, it's high development.

I for one am gonna take off my cynical hat, put on a "this could be cool" hat and wait and see what happens.

Re:I have to ask ...

[walnutmon]

Slashdot's new "Discussion System"

Uggggh

[$RANDOMLUSER]

When can we vote this whole American Idol concept off the island?

Don't be so crass

[LKM]

Look, if you're not a programmer, your idea is basically worthless. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Programmers who actually implement your idea cost money. Now, you can either participate in this contest and (if you win) not only see your idea realized, but actually get a price and royalties if the app sells.

The choice isn't between owning a great idea which will inevitably make your rich, and giving it away for nothing, as you make it out to be. The choice is between nothing and seeing your idea realized while making money.

Obviously, if you're a programmer who has an awesome idea, don't participate in this contest. Implement it yourself. But I don't think there's even one programmer too stupid to realize this.

Re:Don't be so crass

[Shaper_pmp]

Bad programmers are a dime a dozen, which is why so are bad programs.

Good programmers are worth their weight in gold, or at least 10-28 times their weight in bad programmers.

Anyone could hire some teenage VB6 script kiddie out of school to bodge up something similar to what they were thinking for dollars an hour, max. The trick is in finding someone who'll take on your vague idea[1] and develop it into something beautiful, functional and usable that you can take credit for.

That is neither easy nor cheap to outsource.

Footnotes:

[1] I'm sorry, but if long experience developing has taught me anything, it's this: If you don't know how to code, and have no experience of coding, you have no idea what you want.

You might have the vaguest inkling of what you desire, but you won't have considered 90% of the edge cases, it'll be wrong in at least three ways and the whole requirement will need re-writing by the developer once he understands what you actually do want.

I wonder...

[locokamil]

... if they can write an automatic lameness filter that recognizes when a Mac is being an officious and superior bastard and initiate a shock sequence by way of response. I recommend the following performance vs. penalty scheme:

• 1 shock every time user logs on to Apple hardware related forum to masturbate about what new hardware may or may not be revealed during Steve Job's next keynote address
• 2 shocks for every DRM ridden iTunes song downloaded by the user because "it works out better for the artists, and because it gives me the flexibility to do whatever I want with my music." Discretionary shocks may be assigned on the basis of whether or not the song is subsequently downloaded to an iPod (max. 1 shock), and if said iPod is a "special edition" U2 iPod (max. 2 shocks)
• 3 shocks for every "My mac 'just works'" comment. Additional shocks in the event that Mac breaks down 1 day after warranty expires (max 3 shocks); further shocks may be assigned if user has to go to friend who uses Linux to get the problem sorted out (max 4 shocks)
• 4 shocks for every time user says that Apple is the only sensible platform for him/her because he/she is an "artist."
• 5 shocks for every "I never get viruses" comment to a PC user. More shocks if the user is a graphic designer who uses his computer for nothing except photoshop (max 6 additional shocks). Fatal shock may be administered if user is a graphic designer talking to a sysadmin in charge of maintaining a network of PCs.

Now where's my iPod?

Re:I wonder...

[TomorrowPlusX]

... a whole lot of not-funny ranting from some asshole

How about 10 shocks for Windows/Linux users who are constantly angry at Mac users simply because Mac users can't get it in their heads that they should just give up and use PCs? I mean, come on? Don't you arrogant elitists realize that your computers are worthless and that you're assholes for even using Macs?

You know what? I'm an "artist", a graphic designer. I use macs because, well fuck] I've used Photoshop, Quark and illustrator -- on macs -- since the early/mid 90's. I like the platform. I know the platform. The platform fucking works. I don't need to justify being an elitist asshole if your definition of being an elitist asshole is that I'm a guy who makes a living, you know, eating, paying rent, etc by using a computer you clearly disapprove of.

Also, I'm a programmer. I've done professional embedded systems programming on Solaris ( cross compiling to embedded hardware ) and I used linux exclusively at home for several years. I've also done Win32 programming, as well. You know why I have a Mac at home now? Because they're so goddamned well designed, at the API level that they're a dream to program for. And the hardware works. Quite well, too.

And you know what? I've not had a virus on any mac of mine since maybe 1993 or 1994.

So I say you get 10 shocks for being a dismissive PC user who insists that everybody do things the way you do, because clearly you know better than us how to do what we do.

Re:An Ipod for IP

[NMerriam]

I disagree - programmers are two a penny, but a good idea is incredibly valuable.

If you're just talking about code-monkeys, then I'd agree they aren't particularly rare. But the guys involved in this project are developers who it seems will be expected to work out most of the actual *workings* of whatever "idea" is presented, and they have histories of coming up with useful and usable interfaces.

Saying "I want a program that will automatically fix the tags of all my MP3 files" is not hard. It's coming up with an algorithm or system to analyze song files successfully, or an interface to efficiently present songs to the user for identification, that would be the hard part.

Obviously if the entrants of this contest have already worked out the implementation details and interface for the idea and just need a programmer with Objective C experience to get it working, then the idea man deserves the major credit. But that's not what this contest sounds like to me.

Native Hypercard for OS X

[Old.UNIX.Nut]

This is a no-brainer.

Non-coders aren't the problem...

[stokes]

[1] I'm sorry, but if long experience developing has taught me anything, it's this: If you don't know how to code, and have no experience of coding, you have no idea what you want.

I disagree. I think people who know how to code can sometimes get tunnel vision; they try to think of an idea but unconsciously return to what they know about coding -- standard UI widgets, common practices, how other applications they've written worked, et cetera. I sometimes get trapped like this myself. Someone who is just a user will describe what they want and not consider that stock widget x can't do what they're describing. The problem isn't people who don't know how to code, but people who don't think things through.