Our data in the cloud, hallowed be thy computation, your kingdom come, your will be done, on our devices as it is in the cloud. Give us today our daily feed.
> Plenty of people are writing code without being paid for it.
This is rhetorically a non sequitur. As in, if you get paid (X) then you get stuff done (Y). But if you're not paid (~X), then, ?
Not being paid doesn't mean one does or doesn't get stuff done, it has no bearing on it. So the parent wasn't saying anything about people who don't get paid, they can do whatever they want, but yes, at a job if you're paid, then you better get stuff done over bikeshedding.
I think you're both right. There's a time and place for beautifully crafted code, but there's also a place for a hot mess that barely passes its own non-existing tests, and for anything in between.
> there's also a place for a hot mess that barely passes its own non-existing tests
For a long time that place has been "the commercial software marketplace". Let's all stop pretending that the code coming out of shops until now has been something you'd find at a guild craft expo. It's always been a ball of spit and duct tape, which is why AI code is often spit and duct tape.
It depends how much money and energy in the form of manhours were spent to write it in an artisan way in the first place. I've been in a lot of PR reviews where it was clear that the amount of back and forth we had was simply not worth it for the code we wrote.
Having distinct icons is nice. People can learn. It's cool to have cultural relics live on in some way. My kids recognize the floppy disk as save, but they have probably never seen one in real life.
I think images and representations of no longer used artifacts still live on in our cultural knowledge. They don't necessarily have to be a part of everyday lives. Think of children's stories and fairy tales. I don't see swords and shields in every day life very often but I can recognize them easily. I've never seen a komodo dragon in person but could recognize one if walked down my street.
I spend a small amount on Adwords and that is pretty much it. I gave up on Bing PPC. Facebook Ads aren't suitable for my market. Linked Ads ar too expensive. I tried Reddit Ads, but that was a disaster. See also:
What about sites like bitsdujour? I get an email with deals from them every so often (that I subscribe to) and have spent money on licenses after finding software that I liked.
Can you discuss more about Mentava's approach to gamification? I am working on a math practice application and considering adding some, but I don't want it to be annoying.
Of course! Gamification (and other extrinsic motivators) are best used sparingly and short-term in order to get over an initial hump before something fun or easy. Think of climbing a hill to get to a playground.
Basically, our goal is to make the kid's progress tangible and visual for them so that they can start enjoying it, and then use our gamification mechanics to reinforce the child's growing intrinsic motivation so that they enjoy and appreciate the feeling of making progress
I wonder about having gamification as something you can turn off. I am working on a math practice web application. I have not added any gamification to it. I am ok with minimal gamification like Math Academy does with experience points or the sound effects and trophies you get in Khan Academy, but Duolingo is too much. A friend told me he would like gamification in it. Any thoughts on making gamification something you can opt out of?
As a life long language learner, I wanted to say this is a unique and clever approach, but I also agree that it is really challenging to monetize. Especially in a way that is respectful to users because they are creating a lot of content with very personal data.
The first is a customizable digital math workbook. Currently the demo covers fourth grade math. There is a practice mode where you can select the skills you to want practice. There is also a customizable dashboard where you can setup your own widgets to practice math skills in different ways. I am working on some pre-made dashboards to help users get started. The next plan is to cover fifth grade math skills. My plan is to cover first grade math up to Calculus and High School Physics. I envision it as a companion tool for Khan Academy/Math Class/Math Books. Check out the demo. No signup required. Progress is only stored locally.
The second thing I am working on is an application to practice Cangjie. It's a Chinese input method that has been around for a long time. It is based on a visual decomposition of characters. Each character is represented by one to five codes and the majority are unique. My application teaches Cangjie like keyboarding (QWERTY) is taught to young students. You learn the location of the keys, then some basic words, then start typing sentences. I also have a free demo for it as well.
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