Henry's Headlamp Discussion

The idea for this tutorial came from the NYTimes article on how it is hard to make a living making apps.  My response to that is the fact that it is hard to make a living at anything when you go out on your own.  Some times the businesses succeed and sometimes they fail.  I see a need for apps and app developers and there still seems to be demand if you are willing to work hard and keep current (That might include working for someone else).  There is still the opportunity to go out on your own but you should be aware that there is no field of work where you are guaranteed success just because you showed up.  Your main goal for going on your own is your passion to create new things and be your own boss.  Money is a small part of that equation.

Enough of the rant though and lets start building the functionality seen in the App Henry's Headlamp.

Intro



Step 1: Create the Masking image



Step 2: Add to Xcode and Create the Touch Events.



There you have it.  A pretty simple concept that makes  a neat effect but was not enough to make Campfire Apps a profit.  Here is a quick list of possible issues that occurred with that company.

Limited Audience - They have a strong focus on one audience that does not have the power of a bank account.  Toddler apps are a tough sell when there are so many free ones out there that do the job.

Unknown Character - This is the first time I have heard of Henry.  I am curious if they did likability studies with their target audience to see if they related to the kid with the headlamp.

Limited Game Theory - There were really no levels to increase the intensity.  It was also similar to a game of memory where you had to use skills to remember where you saw something.  Unfortunately this went away because every time you spot an item, the game randomizes the scene again.  This changes it from a game of skill to a game of chance.   The reward system was ok but it was more of a choose the item and they put it in place for you.  It would have been nice to be able to drag and drop your reward yourself.  There are many great books on gamification and game theory.

Advertising - I am curious how, when, and how much advertising they did for their business.  From the article it sounds like they bought a lot of equipment but forgot to go out and sell it. I think the NYTimes article might actually help them a bit by developers trying to learn from other people's mistakes.

When is a sequel a good idea?  In any business you can make money off of a sequel.  The biggest factor is if the original was a success.  After that you will generally make a little less money the second time around.  The choice is yours to continue but you should look in the original amount of money you made and see if it is more than the cost you are going to spend making the next version.  Some costs do go down like pre existing code but there is always the cost of time, new artwork, and more advertising.

These were my thoughts on that article and I would like to hear your opinion to.  Be sure to comment below and Happy Thanksgiving!!