7 ms·

and beyond proposing an idea, and collecting emails, what does this submission contribute?

by _grrr 15y ago

jmilloy 15y ago
Why, it perpetuates the "My <pretend dev-time^> project" type submissions that I seem to be in extreme minority in hating, while adding just enough of a twist to seem forward thinking. ^I still don't understand why anyone cares how much typing time went into a project - large small cool slick boring complete incomplete pretentious humble whatever - and much less do I understand why that information belongs in the title.
- esrauch 15y ago
  I think that's fair, though I think it's fair for these things to be labeled "weekend project" which carries the implication that it is being worked on during non-work hours or for a short period of time as a one-off or throw away.
- dools 15y ago
  Yeah, I really hate them too. That's why one of the first blog posts I wrote about Decal was entitled "How we built a web application and didn't launch it in 482 days". I've made a submission each week over the past three weeks, each with decreasing dev times because, hell, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! The first was http://cueyoutube.com/ http://cueyoutube.com/ "My Sunday Night Project", then last week was "My 15 minute project: PimpMySalary.com" and now this one isn't even a project, it's just a 10 minute idea. Whilst my link bait titles are a bit tongue in cheek, there is a real reason I'm doing this: it's therapeutic! I've found that just releasing software serves several useful purposes: 1) It's a fun escape from the "real task" which is building decalcms.com which is a very hard, complex task that's taking a really long time and which I'm worried about monetising (and represents a huge investment of time and money) 2) It's a way of engaging with people and building an audience. Every time I do something like this, I pick up a couple of Twitter followers, or I get to engage with the people that sign up to discuss the product and of course I get the name Working Software in front of a bunch of people 3) It gives some little ideas validation (or not) so that when I feel like a little escape I have something that I can work on and know that there are at least a few people that will care. I'm also building an ORM for SQL lovers at https://github.com/iaindooley/PluSQL/ https://github.com/iaindooley/PluSQL/ - I just find that if I don't do something with tangible (or "releasable") results every week then I get very bogged down in the marketing, monetisation and completion of Decal - this helps me regain perspective on life. 4) It's conceivable that if I just so happen to execute one of these right, it'll turn into a real product, who knows. 5) It's good practice for releasing. Putting something out in public is really nerve wracking and I'm not that used to it (same with sending bulk emails). Doing this over and over again desensitises me to it in a way that's kind of quirky and fun, and not offensive (hopefully) to the people involved. But I'll cool it on the "my 45 second glint in the milkman's eye" titles ;) I've had my fun.
  - jmilloy 15y ago
    I love seeing your (and others') submissions! I've had a cueyoutube-like site in the back of my mind for a few months and a) it's cool/now maybe there's no need to do it and b) it just goes to show that your right: doing small projects and releasing them can be hard and i should make an effort like you have! The amount of time usually just doesn't factor into whether the project is worth anything or not. Did you spend 2 minutes on it when you should have spent 20? Or did you spend a weekend when you could have spent a lunch break? Did you think about your project while driving to work every morning for a week and then type it out 10 minutes, or did you truly spend 10 minutes from conception to publishing?
    - dools 15y ago
      Hey, thanks :) note that cueyoutube is just a static file - there's no backend. There are also feature requests at cueyoutube.uservoice.com - if you want to take part then I'd be happy to share the credit with you on the site! Edit: also yeah I get what you're saying re: the time in the post titles. I was really just poking fun at the whole thing. I'm still going to release things but I'm just going to stop with my ridiculous titles.

and beyond proposing an idea, and collecting emails, what does this submission contribute?

by _grrr 15y ago

and beyond proposing an idea, and collecting emails, what does this submission contribute?

Why, it perpetuates the "My <pretend dev-time^> project" type submissions that I seem to be in extreme minority in hating, while adding just enough of a twist to seem forward thinking. ^I still don't understand why anyone cares how much typing time went into a project - large small cool slick boring complete incomplete pretentious humble whatever - and much less do I understand why that information belongs in the title.

esrauch 15y ago
I think that's fair, though I think it's fair for these things to be labeled "weekend project" which carries the implication that it is being worked on during non-work hours or for a short period of time as a one-off or throw away.
dools 15y ago
Yeah, I really hate them too. That's why one of the first blog posts I wrote about Decal was entitled "How we built a web application and didn't launch it in 482 days". I've made a submission each week over the past three weeks, each with decreasing dev times because, hell, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! The first was http://cueyoutube.com/ http://cueyoutube.com/ "My Sunday Night Project", then last week was "My 15 minute project: PimpMySalary.com" and now this one isn't even a project, it's just a 10 minute idea. Whilst my link bait titles are a bit tongue in cheek, there is a real reason I'm doing this: it's therapeutic! I've found that just releasing software serves several useful purposes: 1) It's a fun escape from the "real task" which is building decalcms.com which is a very hard, complex task that's taking a really long time and which I'm worried about monetising (and represents a huge investment of time and money) 2) It's a way of engaging with people and building an audience. Every time I do something like this, I pick up a couple of Twitter followers, or I get to engage with the people that sign up to discuss the product and of course I get the name Working Software in front of a bunch of people 3) It gives some little ideas validation (or not) so that when I feel like a little escape I have something that I can work on and know that there are at least a few people that will care. I'm also building an ORM for SQL lovers at https://github.com/iaindooley/PluSQL/ https://github.com/iaindooley/PluSQL/ - I just find that if I don't do something with tangible (or "releasable") results every week then I get very bogged down in the marketing, monetisation and completion of Decal - this helps me regain perspective on life. 4) It's conceivable that if I just so happen to execute one of these right, it'll turn into a real product, who knows. 5) It's good practice for releasing. Putting something out in public is really nerve wracking and I'm not that used to it (same with sending bulk emails). Doing this over and over again desensitises me to it in a way that's kind of quirky and fun, and not offensive (hopefully) to the people involved. But I'll cool it on the "my 45 second glint in the milkman's eye" titles ;) I've had my fun.
- jmilloy 15y ago
  I love seeing your (and others') submissions! I've had a cueyoutube-like site in the back of my mind for a few months and a) it's cool/now maybe there's no need to do it and b) it just goes to show that your right: doing small projects and releasing them can be hard and i should make an effort like you have! The amount of time usually just doesn't factor into whether the project is worth anything or not. Did you spend 2 minutes on it when you should have spent 20? Or did you spend a weekend when you could have spent a lunch break? Did you think about your project while driving to work every morning for a week and then type it out 10 minutes, or did you truly spend 10 minutes from conception to publishing?
  - dools 15y ago
    Hey, thanks :) note that cueyoutube is just a static file - there's no backend. There are also feature requests at cueyoutube.uservoice.com - if you want to take part then I'd be happy to share the credit with you on the site! Edit: also yeah I get what you're saying re: the time in the post titles. I was really just poking fun at the whole thing. I'm still going to release things but I'm just going to stop with my ridiculous titles.