Let’s say you’re a software developer. You’re busting for a bit of independent software development action. What to build, you think. What great idea would put you on the map. I spent a bit of time this week talking to some software developers and I’m just drawing from the conversation. All of them are continuing with their efforts but I hope that they all think a little more carefully about where to go from here. I’m paraphrasing my conversations here.
Hmmm, how about a spreadsheet. A new spreadsheet unlike any other?
In a marketplace dominated by Excel, a powerhouse so influential it managed to stop Apple from releasing their own spreadsheet. And you’ve got competitors in the shape of Calc, Mesa, Flexisheet, OpenOffice, ThinkFree Office (and until recently AppleWorks). I could see some leverage if your new spreadsheet supported the OpenDocument format.
How about an email client?
What feature would you shout about? You’ve got competitors in the shape of Mailsmith, Thunderbird, Eudora, Entourage and half a dozen others not least Apple’s own Mail which is built into every Mac. I could see some leverage with a client that connects to MAPI-based servers. Exchange is still the big man on campus and Windows SysAdmins are terribly unwilling to turn on IMAP/POP services and none of them seem to know anything about how they could allow access to their own directory server. And I think there’s a lot of opportunity with RSS based email readers.
Well, how about a web browser….
You have got to be kidding….
This all discounts someone with a fabulous idea. An example being those Flock guys.