First it was musicians, now it’s software developers, and next it will be movie stars. The gravy train is over, folks!
If you write code for a living, your career is in the crosshairs of the Web’s demand that everything digital be cheap or free. A whole generation is growing up believing that if you cannot touch it, then it has no monetary value and is free for the taking.
The terrific webcomic The Oatmeal demonstrates this brave new world:
Is this necessarily a bad thing? If we remove the economic incentive for the time-and-resource-intensive business of software development, consumers are likely to see fewer ambitious software products like Photoshop and Microsoft Office. However, I’m confident in the future that we’ll all enjoy an endless supply of Fart apps.
Article published on September 2, 2010
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September 2nd, 2010 at 10:34 am
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September 2nd, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Sorry, I don’t agree. I think the professional software community is going to grow and thrive. While I question that small companies that insist on creating full client apps like the days of yore will thrive, there is no question that new apps that run on the cloud will have a reasonable chance to be successful.
The bigger threat to developers in the US (and in UK/France/Germany) is the high availability of talented developers in English speaking poor countries that will drive down the $/line of code that is being spent.
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Software developers of old are indeed doomed. I’ve been in this biz for 20 years and the world has definitely changed. Like all things in this changing world, you must adapt or die.
Musicians need to realize their music isn’t their premier product anymore, but rather a loss-leader to entice fans to buy merchandise, concert tickets, band-branded Guitar Hero, etc. Of course for an old guy like me all I’m interested in is the music, so I get a free ride.
Software developers need to realize their software just isn’t that special anymore, but rather just one of a million commodities in a crowded app store. Don’t think about selling 1000 copies at $39, now you sell 39,000 copies at 99 cents. With competition from freeware, open source, piracy, and 99 cent apps, most software in the future will be free or nearly so. The “freemium model” will dominate, where every app has a free version but additional features or the removal of advertising can be had for a fee.
Adapt or die.
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Hi Folks,
I strongly disagree with the concept of free software at ur door step.This is backdoor most corporate companies employ inorder make their brand come up in the market.Once they are in they start commercializing.
There are so many popular software which adopted this path to gain customers.
If keep track them u can come to know how well these corporate companies will think.
Last but not least ‘ Nothing is free in this world until unless u break the code of others’.
Lets spend the day happy and do our job correctly for better future.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Sad but true. I worked for a small Windows software company from 2004 until the end of last year. We seemed to be doing great until the recession hit and the company never recovered. We ported our apps to iPhone/iPad but apparently the gross sales were only a fraction of what we were making on Windows. With any major change, there are always winners and losers. I think the big companies will do fine because of scale and the business market. And individual developers writing fart apps on the side while doing a regular day job will also enjoy the fruits of this new world. But the small businessman is dead.
September 16th, 2010 at 10:31 am
First there was the pony express, then US mail, then telegraph, then fax, then email, now Twitter. Each new technology obsoletes the last. There are winners and losers. Like the other commenter said, you must adapt or die.
The traditional software company that sells $39 Windows applications is dead. You must either focus on selling to businesses (who actually still pay for software) or get hope you can sell a large quantity of 99-cent apps.
October 29th, 2010 at 1:44 am
I agree about business software. They will still pay significant money for software that works well and has decent support. As for individuals, I think people are much less likely to pay for software, as they have in the past.
January 8th, 2011 at 4:48 am
I disagree.. Just think about it, Will Microsoft ever giveaway their Windows for free? Even their Visual Studio costs $3000. So yeah, the biggest IT company in the world and creator of PC is making tons of money and people are paying.
February 21st, 2011 at 7:13 am
it all depends upon the project you completed and satisfaction of the client. if client is satisfied you will get a chance to grow. if client is not satisfied obvious you will net get more project and you have to satisfied with less work.
March 1st, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Nima: I understand that you are misinformed about Visual Studio pricing, You may get the entry level MSDN subscription which is like 800$ and get access to visual studio (not express) and have access to most MS software you’ll need in developpment.
Hope that help you 🙂
March 3rd, 2011 at 10:10 am
I am developer and in this business for about 8 years, one thing which i saw is changing is cost of development, and main reason is free software availability and in web development CMS inclusion. Still software development business has much in it but only for top developers.
April 9th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
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June 24th, 2016 at 6:46 am
Not at all software development services is a big demand in today’s world…you can say little bit doomed but not all over.