I am not a programmer in the vein of Todd, Richard, Simon or many others on this list… I’m a “scripter.”
I like LiveCode because I can easily create the simple things I do and develop them quickly. My target audience is elementary schools and children (so, ages 5-12). I’m a prof in a small liberal arts school (in the US, Rock Island, Illinois) where I work with elementary education majors. Our majors use the apps in their field experiences with elementary students and make suggestions for apps that I create or the make suggestions to modify the existing apps I’ve already written.. It’s cool when they can make a suggestion and I can get a version out to them within a week or two for them try with “real” students. That way our majors are developing a true sense of what makes a “good” app and begin getting a sense of how apps are made. I’ve been making “apps” since HyperCard and moved to HyperStudio for manny years because of its scripting and cross-platform capabilities. Now I only develop in LiveCode and have 33 apps on the iOS app store. All are “utilitarian” in nature… none will win a design award… much of the art is made within LiveCode. The coolest art I have is my logo (thanks to the talents of Scott Rossi). Given the focus of my app development I don’t have to worry about making money… I do need some income to defray expenses since we are not receiving any form of grant money for this project. I’ve had over 1.5 million app downloads… only 3% are paid apps… schools, as you can image, like “free.” I have no doubt that if my apps were all paid (99¢) that I would have far fewer downloads… maybe a total of 100,000. One thing I really like about the list (and the forums) is listening to the folks who talk so far over my head that I can get a sense of what is possible even when I don’t understand how to get there. be well, randy Randy Hengst www.classroomFocusedSoftware.com > On Aug 20, 2015, at 6:10 AM, Todd Fabacher <tfabac...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> As many of us I have paid for the licenses, put money out for free >> development expecting some wanted features, continued for Indie >> advancement payments (hope to live beyond the licenses expire), >> I have to ask my colleague developers, are you making any money with >> the apps you develop (with LC)? Or is it just fun? > > > This is the question that is on the lips of so many developers I meet in > the LiveCode community in the last year since I have started to use LC as a > development tool. The real critical problem is many expect LC to be a genie > in a bottle and grant you three profitable apps. > > Mostly, it is lack of experience that has created this illusion. The lack > of profitability is more related to a void in understanding how to develop > profitable business apps vs. LiveCode. I have been working with dozens of > developers from the class to help them on their journey. But that is a > small amount of the 500+ who are taking the class. Many do indeed purchase > LiveCode like they do language software and thing the will learn to speak > French simply by osmosis. > > At DP have been like elfs, quietly toiling away for a year, but are about > to launch 5 very profitable Apps in addition to the 16 Apps [we still have > 4 to go] that we helped LiveCode with for the "Create It With LiveCode" > class. Granted I have more resources than most, but here is what we have > done in a year: > > *UBook24-7*: A management App + online scheduling website which allows > people to book appointments online, and the owner uses the App to manage > the business. The main focus is barber, hair salon, sports instructors and > personal trainers. Price $229 / year including a website and hosting. > > *Express Event*: A management App + online eCommerce website for Events and > conferences. It provides a complete solution including event ticket sales, > speaker management , class registration, multi-locations for event "Tours" > and lots more. We also have an option for the event to have their own App. > Price $299 / year including a website and hosting. Plus another one time > fee of $299 if you want an event App. > > *Build a Tour App*: A management App + online website + Custom App Tour App > designed by them for self guided Tours. We are in Full beta with cities, > universities, a wine area in NZ and a cruise line. A desktop app allows > them to manage and design their tour app [text, images, audio, video and > languages]. We take their data and match it agains a pre-build LC App > template, charge them $499 for the App and $29/ month for a website that > promotes the App and acts as a central server to update the app data and > advertising on an ongoing basis. > > *MenuMania*: A management App + online website + Custom Menu App designed > by them with the desktop management app. For many hotels, restaurants, > airports or other places where language and speed are an issue, we have > developed a simple "menu maker". So instead of giving them a menu, a tablet > is provided or is attached to the table. You see this in many airports now, > but will begin to move to all food services. You can order and pay on the > device and the food comes right out. Several New York restaurants are > interested more in using this as a wine list as it can make suggestions > based on the menu, and will provide a more information on the winery which > people are always interested in. We have just started connecting with > the Culinary Institute of America to try and make this not just about fast > food. $499 for the App and $29/ month for a web server. Also we are looking > into a kitchen management system to go with it, but that is 2016. > > *PlayLand Armenia*: The team in Armenia what to do this, so I said OK. No > it is not profitable and in actuality I am loosing money on it, but it was > a great team builder and help teach some critical skills. It is an app > where Armenian kids 5-10 around the world can play online games together, > become friends and learn Armenian. This was the teams contribution for the > memory of the 100 year Genocide. So rather focus on the negative, they > provide a way for the Armenian kids around the world to still feel > connected. > > *3 large Contact Apps*: We are doing 3 apps on a contact basis. These have > helped us learn new technology and provided the revenue to teach new people > LiveCode. > > So my point is, I could do these in any language, but LiveCode allows me > several critical advantages. Multi-platform, ease of use so I can hire and > train people who have never even coded before and get them up to speed in > 4-6 months, seamless connection between the app and LC web server using > revIgniter and a great interface with WordPress which we use as the website > for many of the web portion of the apps. > > I hope this answers your question. > > --Todd > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
