Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I'm looking for some brainstorming help on a possible future for some code which has reached a sort of crossroads.
This codebase is commercially known as "PocketMac for BlackBerry". If you're not familiar with it, it was the first Mac app that allowed users to sync a BlackBerry with a Mac. RIM licensed it for several years to give it away to users, until they eventually came out with their own app. It includes the drivers (of course), the low- & high-level communication stack, and a pretty robust sync engine.
This code probably represents the most comprehensive knowledge of the BlackBerry's internals found outside of Ontario, Canada.
The problems facing this codebase are:
- With RIM making their own software -quality of same aside- it will potentially become more difficult to sell this, at some point.
- Additionally, as with all devices, the future of the BlackBerry is uncertain.
- Finally, syncing mobile devices, as a market, seems to be something that 3rd parties are being crowded out of. More and more devices talk to Macs (or a good cloud service) right out of the box.
So, that brings me to the question of what's next.
Here are some very rough (~40 grit sandpaper) ideas I've been considering:
1. Pivot. Agreed, but, to what? As I said, devices are now shipping with this sort of functionality built-in, so it's not as simple as just porting a piece or two to a new platform, generating a new driver, etc. if there's not really a need or market for such a solution.
2. Wholesale sale/licensing of the code to another party. Maybe Google wants to offer a way for Android phones to connect to a BlackBerry and slurping in all of the user's data? Some of the recent headlines suggest there might be a foreign government interested in slurping up data from citizens' BlackBerry devices. (Remember, we're just brainstorming here.)
3. Open-source it. I'd love to. I really would, but I can't afford it right now. The software still sells and paid support doesn't make enough on its own. I'd consider some kind of Kickstarter project to open it up, but I doubt it'd raise enough money to be worthwhile.
That's as far as I got.
I'm hoping you will have some additional ideas, since I'm almost certainly "too close to it," as they say.
I welcome any and all suggestions.
Thanks in advance!