Hitting it big on the app store is more of a gamble than gold rush

Fast Company has a great article on striking it rich on the app store. They bring up a good point about how software failures are no long major news stories like they were 20 – 30 years ago.

Many people think just because you get an app on the App Store does not mean you are going to see money rolling in. For every ‘Tiny Wings’ or ‘Doodle Jump’ there are thousands of developers whose app will not make a single penny.

So why is the app store more popular?

One theory is that we enjoy the strange psychological lure of uncertainty. Researchers have discovered that we often find relationships more compelling if the object of our affection is mysterious and non-committal. The image of a girl sat on a lawn picking petals from a flower and musing, “He loves me, he loves me not” is a fairly accurate depiction of a developer’s relationship with Apple. On one hand the girl with the flower hopes that “he” loves her, but on the other hand a lot of the fun is down to not knowing. It’s human nature that we are attracted to the thrill of never being quite sure where fortune will smile, and there are few businesses where that feeling is more acute than iOS development. Everything about the process is uncertain.

The article is a great read. Check it out.

Source: Striking It Rich In The App Store: For Developers, It’s More Casino Than Gold Mine