I wanted to bring to your attention a problem that small businesses are having in Georgia and throughout the country. Specifically, small software companies are coming under fire because of patent infringement cases being brought against them. In the last few weeks, I personally know of several small software companies in Georgia that may have to close their doors due to this problem. You can read more about one particular case from this Reuters article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/26/idUS119508+26-Apr-2011+MW20110426

The company from Georgia that is involved is named Widget Press. It is a very small company and they have had to let people go because of this case against them. So we are losing jobs because of actions like this.

The problem can be summarized into two issues:

- The patent office is granting very broad patents in the computer software area. These are not real inventions, but simply 'concepts'. In many cases, the person who applies for the patent and receives it don't even make any products related to the patent. They simply patent a 'concept' and wait for someone else to unknowingly use that same concept, then sue them. We have companies in the US that are considered 'patent trolls' and only exist to extort money from businesses who MAY have infringed.

- The second problem is that small businesses don't have the money to fight back. To request re-examination from the patent office is very expensive. Also to fight the case in court is also very expensive. The small business has few options, even if the Patent is completely invalid and ridiculous. The only outcomes are for the small business to attempt to settle (may not always be possible), or to simply go out of business.

Small software businesses are vital to our economy. Especially with the rise of the smart phone market, thousands of small businesses have sprung up to meet the needs of consumers. If these small businesses are continually hit with alleged patent violations, this entire eco-system will just cease to exist. This is so counter to the American dream that it isn't even funny. We need to reform the patent office in regards to Software patents. This can be done without legislation, but simply changes to how the patent office approves and reviews software patents. We need to move the burden of defending a patent back to the one who originally submitted it, and not the one who is being sued. Why can't a simple rule be put into place that allows a small business who is currently being sued to submit a case for re-examination without a huge expense? That is the only fair solution to this problem.

Here is a link to the patent in question above:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,822,816.PN.&OS=PN/7,822,816&RS=PN/7,822,816

However, this patent is only one of hundreds if not thousands of vague software patents that only represent 'concepts', not real products. Here is another example that is happening right now:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/05/patent-troll-shakes-down-iphone-app-programmers.ars

We need help in the Congress to pressure the US Patent Office to fix this problem. I believe it can be fixed. And if not, then software innovation will only happen in other countries that don't acknowledge the patent system (China for example).

 

So, the first thing we have to do here is set our attitude towards the 'grinding' correctly. We should look at this as a positive thing. Yes, we failed to beat the 'boss', but that just means we have an opportunity to improve. I can't say for certain where the term 'grinding' came from, but when I think about it I am reminded of how a blacksmith finishes a weapon. He has a grinding stone and puts a smooth finish on the edge. So we should look at this kind of activity in the light of giving us an edge. With this new edge, we can beat what before was impossible. So, how do we get an edge? Here I give you 3 methods that you can use.

The first way to grind is to improve what you are already good at. In the blacksmith analogy, we are making an already sharp edge even sharper. These are areas in your life that you already know pretty well. Now you just need to keep practicing to make them even better. If you are stuck at a level of exercise, then try to improve in an area you are already doing. If you are walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes, try for 40, or 45. If you are good at algebra, then find some extra algebra problems and work on them. Here you are trying to push your already good skill to great. Or great to awesome. In many cases, this is the easiest and most straightforward way to improve. Eventually, however, this method of improvement will start to yield less and less results. If you are already awesome, how do you improve on that? If you are running marathons, what is better?

I would always start with improving on what you are good at, but when the results aren't happening, then take another approach of improving on what you are NOT good at. Find a weakness and improve it. In our blacksmith analogy, we are looking for areas that are dull and making them sharp. Don't pick the thing you are worst at and try to improve that. Chances are that there is a reason you aren't good at it, and it will be easy to get frustrated and discouraged if you aren't able to improve in that area. A good area to look for here are gaps in your skills. So for example if you are already pretty good in Math, but you don't know much about Trigonometry, try and learn it. What you are doing is improving your overall skill here, but in an area you are already good at overall. If you hate Math and aren't good at it, the last thing you want to do is try and learn Trigonometry. Of course, there are always exceptions, but in general you want to improve here, not get discouraged and quit altogether. Remember, that 'boss' is still waiting for you to defeat it.

One final thing you might consider is doing something completely unrelated to a skill you want to improve. If you are stuck in your exercise routine, go visit an Art Museum, or take in a concert. Find something completely unrelated and work on that. Maybe take up dancing, or read a book. Instead of looking at what you are good/not-good at, here you should find something completely new to experience. Maybe you will find a new thing that you enjoy and are good at. At the very least, you are broadening your experience. I can't tell you how many times i've faced a 'boss' battle, only to figure out a way to beat it just by doing something completely unrelated. Maybe you don't need to upgrade your skills at all, you just need to take a break from that battle for a while. Never underestimate the power of new experiences. Our brains have amazing powers to organize information and experiences, but it can work too good. It creates 'schemas' that help it interpret information that it receives. So if you face the same 'boss' over and over, your brain just starts to assume and provide you with the same answer each time. By experiencing new things, no matter what they are, you are forcing your brain to re-organize. In that process, you may unlock a secret to defeating the 'boss', or at least a new approach.

So to summarize, when faced with a difficult situation that you can't overcome, it is time to 'level up'. Take these times to improve and you will find these hard situations less frustrating. I'm not saying the bosses get easier, because they don't. But at least you will have learned what it takes to overcome them.

What went right:

1) I launched my first Mac application. At the end of 2009, I felt that it would be great to expand my indie business into the Mac market. This was the market I first looked to get into after listening to some early Mac Developer Network podcasts and reading some blogs. People like Gus Mueller, Daniel Jalkut, Kevin Hoctor and others were my heros. While I ended up starting on the iPhone, I still wanted the experience of a full Mac app. So I built an app for students, basing it on what I felt my son could use in college. Syllabus was born and released to the world. It launched to mixed reviews, most hopeful of where it could go in the future. Overall this was a great learning experience and I'm very glad to have accomplished it. This was a non-trivial app and I had to overcome many obstacles to get it launched. Sales were not stellar, but acceptable for my first attempt.

2) In the summer, with the help of Shane Crawford, we launched a site to promote indie developers with a sale for students. The site is iAppsForStudents.com and the sale runs between Aug 15th and Sept 1st. We opened the sale up to Mac & iOS developers and we had a huge response. I'm very surprised at how well it was received. Next year we will do more advertising and hopefully it will get even larger. This isn't a bundle, but just a place where developers can post their own sales with the target audience of students looking for software before they start school (in some parts of the world at least).

3) Launched an iPad app called Today's List. For this app, I decided to take a much different approach and focus on some key features that I thought would be great. I was looking for this kind of app and because I couldn't find one, decided to build it myself. Just a simple to-do app that would let you focus on a small amount of tasks each day. I worked with the brilliant Fabio Basile to create a fantastic looking app. He did a bang up job and I think the app looked great. I was very happy to get an app on the store for the iPad. It is an amazing device and will probably go down as the most influential piece of hardware when we look back at this time. Yes, the iPhone is really where it started, but the iPad is showing the world what this interface can do.

4) I started back to school. So to fully explain my college journey here would be another set of posts, so I'll be brief. I never finished my Bachelors degree, although I've been going off-on for the last 10 years (not included my first stint over 20 years ago). One of my longer term goals is to teach at some level, so getting this degree is a priority. My employer has a tuition reimbursement plan, and flexible work hours, so this seems like the ideal time to finish. Also, I was accepted back into my original college Georgia Tech. I really can't explain all of the connection that I have to that place. Needless to say, it is one of my favorite places to be on planet Earth. This past semester (Fall), I finally ran into a college course that challenged me again (haven't had that since my first stint 20 years ago). It was an introduction to AI course. The biggest challenge was the amount of material that was covered. I did learn quite a bit and enjoy the heck out of AI. That area is one of the focuses of my studies, so it is good that I like it.

What went wrong:

1) My school + full time job schedule keeps me busy. As the year went on, I found myself having less and less time for my indie side-business. It is just extremely hard to have 3 things going like this. Plus I have a family, so there just wasn't time for everything. I didn't take any classes over the summer, so that allowed me to do the iAppsForStudents.com promotion and Today's List. But when Fall started, I found myself with no time at all to work on my indie apps. This was extremely frustrating and I think I had a mini-breakdown. I wanted it all, but eventually came to the realization that it just wasn't going to happen. So I decided to close down the indie business and sold off my two best applications to some twitter friends. I think they are in good hands. I didn't want to leave customers without any hope of future updates.

2) It is amazing how 1 bad review can affect sales. My initial sales numbers for Today's List were pretty good. But I had a bad review and sales tanked. They would never recover. This was really frustrating and I think also contributed to my overall feeling of quitting. I had planned to use the Today's List app as a bell weather for if I should stay in the indie business or get out. So this was another factor in deciding to give it up.

3) Another factor in overall frustration and stress was having too many applications. I had 4 iPhone apps, 1 iPad app and the Mac app. None were selling very well, but all had promise but required significant updates. The stress of this really sapped my energy. How do you get motived to update and improve an app that makes $1 a day, or $1 a week? That is really hard. None of these factors by themselves would be impossible to overcome. But when you combine them all together, you have a not-fun situation. I had sub-consciously bought into the gold rush mentality that the 'next' app would be the big hit. But the big hit never came, and I was left with a bunch of non-hits. This adds a lot of hidden burden that you don't realize.

So, that is a summary of 2010. I had always hoped to turn the part-time indie work into a full-time job. I believe if I hadn't decided to return to school this would still be possible. But with school added to the mix, I just don't see it happening. I may return to the indie world in the future, but it will probably start as strictly a hobby or part of my school studies. There may also be some open-source projects in the future, depending on how much time I devote to them. The great thing is that the opportunities for indies have never been brighter. Now we have a Mac app store coming, and you know that others are soon to follow. For mobile developers, you have a hand full of app store options, when in the past you had to run the carrier gauntlet. Plus the devices we have now are so much fun to develop for. Even the game console market is opening thanks to Microsoft. Still, I would like to see Sony & Nintendo open up their stores to indies as well. That is one area where we are still blocked. However, with the open app stores, an indie now has a great way to prove themselves and their ideas. Trust me, no console maker is turning down the Angry Birds folks if they wanted to port it.

The site is: www.iappsforstudents.com and the sale will run from August 15th - September 1st. Click on the developer login to register your company and apps. We provide a basic structure for how the apps will appear on the site, but the links are yours. Also, you set the sale price, we aren't forcing any specific amount or percentage. Our only goal is to promote great indie apps during the back to school season when lots of students are getting new Macs, iPhones and iPads.

We wan't an awesome sale, so we need your help! Please sign up and let people know about the upcoming sale. Note that the full list of apps will not go on display until August 15th when the sale starts. As a developer, you can add/remove/edit your apps during this preparation time, but the public will not know about your specific details until when the sale starts.

If you have any questions/concerns about the sale, please let me or @shanezilla know.

My first real computer was an Apple IIe with two floppy drives. I taught myself Basic on that computer. My first real program of any significance was a cricket (the sport for all my US readers) simulator. No graphics, just a simulation of a cricket game. It used random number generation to simulate the game. It also tracked the stats for all the players, including the bowlers. It really wasn't that great of a game, but it gave me the desire to learn more. Unfortunately, I was on the edge of the Australian outback at the time. Needless to say, there was no internet, or heck even anyone that knew what an Apple computer was out there.

A few years later, my dad got one of the Mac SE computers and I spent way too much time on it. It had this awesome submarine game on it, and was just an amazing computer. I learned how to do some stuff with HyperCard, but mostly played games on it. My next computer was an Apple IIgs. Also spent way too much time playing games on it. I think someone gave me a Pascal compiler for it, but without a book or really anything to show me what to do with it, I really never developed any apps for it. Eventually moved into the workplace, but it soon became hard to keep an Apple on my desk. I was working on mainframe computers, but decided that the future was in PCs.

Thus began a long period of time working in the Windows environment. Yes, I remember the first version of Visual Basic. Also remember a key mistake by Microsoft for not having a C/C++ compiler to go along with a visual designer. Needless to say, Borland C++ was kicking their tail during that time (even if they didn't have a visual designer either). I wrote a good bit of C, C++ and Visual Basic code over a period of several years. Then I found a new love of my life, Delphi. I still to this day think that Delphi was a breakthrough product. Yes, it was Pascal, but it WASN'T freaking Visual Basic. It was a real language that actually compiled real code. And besides that, the Delphi IDE was actually written in Delphi! That is a feat that few have since been able to accomplish (Yes, I'm looking at you Visual Studio & XCode). Delphi was superior to anything at the time and I wrote a TON of code with it. But it had one primary drawback in that it was hard to find developers who could handle it (Pascal that is).

So pretty much Microsoft messed it up and hired one of the key Delphi developers to create a new monstrosity called .NET. Eventually our company decided to move to this new environment. It was easier to find developers who could develop with it, and it had one nice thing going for it: C#. It was really more like Java (bleh), but had enough C/C++isms in it that it appealed to me. And for building Windows apps, it performed quite well. I've spent several years now building up an application suite that uses .NET. We have even provided a linux version of the product that utilizes the mono .NET runtime. This product is in active use at some companies you would recognize the name of.

My journey back to the Apple platform proceeded in several steps. First of course, Apple had to change directions. My first encounter with this new Apple was a program for Windows (isn't irony fun?). It was a mp3 app called iTunes. First of all, it looked great. And second, it was the best music app for Windows, hands down. I'm a music nut who listens to music while I code, and in the car, and on the treadmill, etc. So this was a big deal for me. And there was that whole iPod thing, but I actually didn't get one till very late in the game. For me, this put Apple back on my radar. From here on out, I would start paying more attention to what they were doing.

I eventually traded one of my PCs for a G4 desktop Mac. Really didn't have anything specific to do with it, just wanted to see what it was like. I think this was running Panther.  Installed XCode on it to see what it was like to develop apps for. Then I saw it. Yes, that dreaded syntax feared by many. ObjC. OK, let's just say that my first impression was anything but flattering. It looked scary. Heck, it WAS scary. With no book, no websites, nothing to learn it from, I just gave up and didn't really try. I eventually sold that Mac, but it had left a reasonable impression (some of the apps looked and worked quite well).

My next step towards Apple fandom was pretty much an accident. My friend is a Pastor at a small church, and was looking to release teachings and such on the internet. So I started doing some research and found that there was this new thing that iTunes was now supporting: Podcasts. I remember listening to some random podcast and thinking, wow this is weird but strangely compelling. Those early days of podcasts led me to something I thought was a developer podcast: Daily Source Code. Regardless of what you might think about that show, he talked about his Apple products constantly. This of course led me to other Apple related podcasts. Eventually landing square on the rock that is Mac Break Weekly. Again, regardless of what you think about these shows, they spurred my curiosity in the platform and in Apple itself.

Fast forwarding a bit, through the indoctrination of these shows, I became a true fan. I purchased my first brand new Mac and loved every second of it. It is still my primary laptop, a Mac Book Pro. I did some Ruby on Rails development with it, and started to learn XCode & ObjC. This time, I found some websites and purchased the Hillegass book. It was still very hard to get used to Interface Builder and how Mac apps should work. So I never got something to the stage where it could be released. Not that long after, the iPhone was released and I was enamored with it. I wasn't in the first group of users because I was stuck in a Verizon contract. Plus at the time you couldn't develop apps for it. I was almost sucked into the Android SDK until it was announced that the iPhone would have an SDK. That started the next phase of my journey. (See part 2 for the iPhone section of my story).