Hacker News Reader

Comment by dagmx | Hacker News Reader

I'm very excited to see what people will be developing. The feedback from early press has been incredibly positive from just first party applications, but third party apps are where a lot of things will come up that Apple themselves likely haven't thought of.

View on HN

> third party apps are where a lot of things will come up that Apple themselves likely haven't thought of.

Until they sherlock it. Honestly, I'd be terrified to come up with something that became too popular in their app store.

There’s also nothing stopping some third party undercutting your app as well.

I’m of the mind that it’s a risk worth taking , because it’s an opportunity that wouldn’t have presented itself otherwise

I meant once you become somewhat popular, it's got to be terrifying. Not necessarily that it's terrifying before you start. When you first start out, there's a billion things happening and this isn't one of them.

But again, in that time you’d have made a ton of money.

Being too terrified to do something because you might be too successful is just missed opportunity

> in that time you’d have made a ton of money.

And established a life-style + employees as well. If it were to suddenly vanish, from experience, you can basically go bankrupt in a matter of months. Maybe its because I've been there (not sherlocked, but a competitor undercut us with unsustainable margins, in fact, they went out of business shortly after we did), and rode that roller coaster. I wouldn't do that again, or go anywhere near that situation. Someone who hasn't been there, would probably be much more willing to take that risk.

This seems like the same logic that people say "Well if they tax people more making over $X then it kills the motivation to make that much", my dude, you don't make .10 * $X is that really the barrier to you making more?

Same here, you're essentially saying you could come up with something massively popular but won't because Apple might sherlock it? The truth is that even when Apple sherlocks things there still exists a market for the "Pro"/"Advanced" version

Reminders: Things, Due, etc

Notes: Drafts, Evernote, Notion, etc

Maps: Google Maps, Waze, etc

Journal (or whatever that are calling it): Day One, etc

and the list goes on. I actually like it when Apple releases a new app in an existing category. It sets the bar and exposes even more people to the idea of such an app, some of those people go looking for a more advanced version.

You do you boo.

I’d prefer to compete in an open market. That’s all I’m saying.

Imagine being terrified that your app will become popular. If Apple decides to copy you, that story alone would be worth it.

> a company called Karelia Software had a $29 search app named Watson with some better features like plug-ins for improved internet search. In 2002, Apple released Sherlock 3 with features similar to Watson, making Karelia’s app redundant and eventually forcing the company to close down.

Yeah, the employees of Karelia really thought the story more worthwhile than their livelihoods.

Still better than not making Watson at all. The point is that if you're "terrified" of being copied or sherlocked, you probably have no shot at it to begin with.

Still not "worth" "the story alone". I think terror is too strong a reaction, but "discouraged" sounds about right.

Is that actually something that is in any way relevant?

Stuff Apple sherlocks nowadays are either OS things that have been painfully missed forever and where third party software was a workaround or they implement a baby version of the third party software.

I think their baby versions – while plenty for many – may serve more to prove a market and wet appetite for more than truly making third party software obsolete. Apple doesn’t do niche nerdy stuff but their new features will – and that‘s my hypothesis – often nudge people in the direction of wanting more.

Most of the time they simply acquire the company.

And so you have a lot of success and then you make a lot of money during an acquisition.

Sounds like the opposite of terrifying to me.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com