My Dream App For the Mac

Steve Streza writes "My Dream App, a Mac contest in search of the next killer app, features Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, and Xbox and zune creator J. Allard as guest judges for its final round. Visitors can vote for their 3 favorite app ideas, and receive free licenses to both Overflow 2 and the Apple Design Award winning PhotoPresenter. Voting is open until Tuesday at 8:00 PM EDT, at which point the three winners will be announced. The winners, who will have emerged from an initial pool of more than 2,700 entrants, will see their app idea realized as a Mac shareware application and earn royalties on sales. "

Comments

ooo another innovation contest

[x-vere]

It seems to me that more and more companies are running dry in the innovation department. I think its a combination of a few things. 1) Companies aren't listening to what consumers want. 2) Their creative talent is aging and young blood is harder to keep. 3) They're skimping on R&D money. Much lack of innovation might clear up by solving one of the three problems. I find it pretty pathetic that a company has to say to its customers, "We got nothin'. If you help us we'll give you royalties." However, at the same time. It would be fun to participate and at least there is a real payoff for the participants who win, so it isn't all bad.

Killer app?

[Aladrin]

Maybe if they have a contest for a 'killer app', one of the choices should actually BE a 'killer app'.

The only ones that come close to useful is file sync and the music maker. And they're far from 'killer app' status. Nobody is going to convert from PC to Mac because it has some sync software or music, especially when other software already exists for that platform and others.

The others are all in the 'ooh eyecandy' category.

Re:No teledildonics?

[garcia]

Give the people what they really want!

Software that's free, not shareware?

Re:Hmm

[s20451]

I hate to point out the obvious, but if you have a trillion dollar idea, why aren't you working on it right now? And if you're just sitting on such an idea because you're lazy, risk averse, or not a good enough programmer, you may as well give it to Steve Jobs. It's doing no good rattling around in your head.

Re:If the royalties are right...

[mios]

How exactly is Apple making money on this?

Except for the fact that these applications are Mac applications, and are therefore run on Apple hardware, as far as I know Apple has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Re:Woz is out there, man!

[Dun Malg]

know he's never been the CEO type, but for the inventor of the MAC and a former teacher, I thought this was a bit crass. I wouldn't want to publish an app with someone who thought this was an appropriate public pronouncement.

Sorry, I don't see the crassness. Someone suggests a good app might be a "virtual plant" and, while other judges patronizingly say "Mac users would love this", he points out that a virtual plant is just plain stupid on its face. Seriously, it's a damn productivity meter that "rewards" you for being a good little worker bee by looking like a healthy plant! THe idea is that it'd encourage the slothful to work harder, but in reality only the already productive will keep the thing around, and the slothful (like me) will delete it after getting tired of looking at a dying plant reminding us that we're lazy. I think Steve was just being blunt and offering amusing ways in which such a concept might actually be appealing.

A virtual plant? That's about as pointless as a virtual bicycle.

(Also, it's "Mac" not "MAC", and Woz didn't create it, he created the original Apple/Apple II systems-- singlehandedly)