iPhoneDevFilter: Smartphone app or dedicated device?
September 17, 2009 6:58 AM Subscribe
What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of creating an iPhone/smartphone application vs. building a dedicated device?
A friend is interested in building and selling a handheld electronic device. In general terms, it's intended as a data-tracking aid for a particular sport popular with middle-class suburban folks, and their kids.
He has no technical background, and he's asked for my advice on how to proceed (I'm a software developer). His first inclination is to build a dedicated device... the interface would/could be fairly rudimentary, a half-dozen buttons and a small LCD screen would work for starters. He also wants USB-enabled upload capability, to suck the data onto a proper computer for further analysis.
My first thought here is "build an iPhone/smartphone app". You admittedly miss folks who don't own a fancy phone, but I think there's a reasonably high (and increasing) percentage of smartphone users who are also in the target demographic for his application. The upside is that you don't have to deal with messy hardware programming, manufacture of the device, physical distribution, etc.
I also think there's potential for building some community around his app... like a website that houses all the collected data, displays it in nice charts, maybe some friendly competition between users, Facebook tie-ins, etc. None of this would be impossible to accomplish with the dedicated hardware, just more difficult, I think.
I admit up front to relative ignorance of hardware programming and manufacturing, and I have a natural bias towards software... but as a "something I want to try on the side and not quit my day job" kind of venture, I know I'd prefer to be selling bits rather than atoms.
Thoughts on this? What advice would you give him?
A friend is interested in building and selling a handheld electronic device. In general terms, it's intended as a data-tracking aid for a particular sport popular with middle-class suburban folks, and their kids.
He has no technical background, and he's asked for my advice on how to proceed (I'm a software developer). His first inclination is to build a dedicated device... the interface would/could be fairly rudimentary, a half-dozen buttons and a small LCD screen would work for starters. He also wants USB-enabled upload capability, to suck the data onto a proper computer for further analysis.
My first thought here is "build an iPhone/smartphone app". You admittedly miss folks who don't own a fancy phone, but I think there's a reasonably high (and increasing) percentage of smartphone users who are also in the target demographic for his application. The upside is that you don't have to deal with messy hardware programming, manufacture of the device, physical distribution, etc.
I also think there's potential for building some community around his app... like a website that houses all the collected data, displays it in nice charts, maybe some friendly competition between users, Facebook tie-ins, etc. None of this would be impossible to accomplish with the dedicated hardware, just more difficult, I think.
I admit up front to relative ignorance of hardware programming and manufacturing, and I have a natural bias towards software... but as a "something I want to try on the side and not quit my day job" kind of venture, I know I'd prefer to be selling bits rather than atoms.
Thoughts on this? What advice would you give him?
If this can be done with a webpage that is accessable from any web-capable phone/device you'd save yourself a lot of hassle. No need to upload data since it would be online instantly.
posted by Osmanthus at 7:39 AM on September 17, 2009
posted by Osmanthus at 7:39 AM on September 17, 2009
Oddly enough, Jason Kottke wrote something very on-point about this yesterday.
Just as a business proposition, the hardware route is harder. Assume that he can breadboard a perfect working prototype, send that to an OEM, and have them crank out finished gadgets. He'll probably need to commit to buying, say, 10,000 units upfront. He'll still need to develop some kind of desktop software interface, and if he wants some kind of web-based community, that too (incidentally, I don't think that would be any easier with an iPhone--the data would just get there via a different conduit--but you could have the community features in the iPhone app).
If he goes the software-only route, he doesn't need to spend any money on widgets. Theoretically his initial development costs could be higher, but after that, it's all gravy.
posted by adamrice at 7:39 AM on September 17, 2009
Just as a business proposition, the hardware route is harder. Assume that he can breadboard a perfect working prototype, send that to an OEM, and have them crank out finished gadgets. He'll probably need to commit to buying, say, 10,000 units upfront. He'll still need to develop some kind of desktop software interface, and if he wants some kind of web-based community, that too (incidentally, I don't think that would be any easier with an iPhone--the data would just get there via a different conduit--but you could have the community features in the iPhone app).
If he goes the software-only route, he doesn't need to spend any money on widgets. Theoretically his initial development costs could be higher, but after that, it's all gravy.
posted by adamrice at 7:39 AM on September 17, 2009
If it's a physically active sport, then it might be asking a lot for people to carry their expensive iPhone while they're playing it. I love the idea of a dedicated device, especially if it be made fairly inexpensively. The iPhone is cool, sure, but it's heavy, slippery, and expensive - very, very expensive.
How to proceed is certainly not obvious to a software developer, and I can certainly appreciate that just writing some smartphone software seems much more attainable - but I'd at least look into what's involved with making a device before giving up. There may be an existing device out there that could easily be re-purposed. If there's a TechShop nearby, maybe someone associated with them could help.
In short, sure, it's easier to just write software, since that's what you (and I) know how to do; but I would at least look into doing a small device to see what would be involved. It could end up being a fascinating project, and not necessarily that difficult. Plus, once you learn how to do it, or find the person/company to help you, or go through the funding-the-idea process once, you'll be in a great position to implement other ideas in the future.
posted by amtho at 7:41 AM on September 17, 2009
How to proceed is certainly not obvious to a software developer, and I can certainly appreciate that just writing some smartphone software seems much more attainable - but I'd at least look into what's involved with making a device before giving up. There may be an existing device out there that could easily be re-purposed. If there's a TechShop nearby, maybe someone associated with them could help.
In short, sure, it's easier to just write software, since that's what you (and I) know how to do; but I would at least look into doing a small device to see what would be involved. It could end up being a fascinating project, and not necessarily that difficult. Plus, once you learn how to do it, or find the person/company to help you, or go through the funding-the-idea process once, you'll be in a great position to implement other ideas in the future.
posted by amtho at 7:41 AM on September 17, 2009
"The iPhone is cool, sure, but it's heavy, slippery, and expensive - very, very expensive."
iPod touch is $200 which isn't "very very expensive" for sure.
Also a nice rubber case solves teh slippery. As for heavy? Says who?
Cost of developing the iPhone software really depends on the project complexity. I've seen projects cost anywhere from a couple of $K to over a hundred $K. YMMV of course.
One "hidden" advantage of an iPhone app is that you don't have to deal with sales and distribution. You upload to the appstore, apple cuts you a check each month. You still need to promote and market the app though (and that's somewhere where a lot of folks fail).
Warning - self-promotion: I write iPhone software for a living (http://projects.metafilter.com/1745/Barack-Obama-iPhone-Application and http://smallsociety.com), feel free to contact me and I can certainly help put you in contact with other iPhone developers (http://iphoneswpro.com/).
posted by schwa at 8:03 AM on September 17, 2009
iPod touch is $200 which isn't "very very expensive" for sure.
Also a nice rubber case solves teh slippery. As for heavy? Says who?
Cost of developing the iPhone software really depends on the project complexity. I've seen projects cost anywhere from a couple of $K to over a hundred $K. YMMV of course.
One "hidden" advantage of an iPhone app is that you don't have to deal with sales and distribution. You upload to the appstore, apple cuts you a check each month. You still need to promote and market the app though (and that's somewhere where a lot of folks fail).
Warning - self-promotion: I write iPhone software for a living (http://projects.metafilter.com/1745/Barack-Obama-iPhone-Application and http://smallsociety.com), feel free to contact me and I can certainly help put you in contact with other iPhone developers (http://iphoneswpro.com/).
posted by schwa at 8:03 AM on September 17, 2009
Install base. There are how many million iphones out there that you could sell a decent priced app to, and you have the store you can throw it on to at least make it visible.
If you create your own device, you have to sell the device AND the app. Do your own marketing from point zero etc.
I would say that if it can be done on an existing device that millions of people have, I'd say go that route.
posted by nerhael at 8:05 AM on September 17, 2009
If you create your own device, you have to sell the device AND the app. Do your own marketing from point zero etc.
I would say that if it can be done on an existing device that millions of people have, I'd say go that route.
posted by nerhael at 8:05 AM on September 17, 2009
Yeah, I should probably get a rubber case for my iPhone. I still find it heavy, though, especially compared to my cheap Virgin Mobile Oystr phone. I definitely wouldn't want to take the iPhone out with me to do anything sporty, especially if I were going to need to use the thing (wouldn't want to scratch it). Yes, I know I can get a scratch guard plastic film for the face plate -- I have one now -- but it's still a pain to replace the plastic film, and in the meantime... ugh.
posted by amtho at 8:19 AM on September 17, 2009
posted by amtho at 8:19 AM on September 17, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks all for some great feedback so far. A point of clarification... the device isn't necessarily worn *during* the activity. It could be, or it could be used by someone watching the person doing the activity (sorry to be so vague).
posted by jplane at 8:33 AM on September 17, 2009
posted by jplane at 8:33 AM on September 17, 2009
It is ASTRONOMICALLY more expensive and difficult to make/distribute hardware.
You can code a decent iPhone app in your spare time as a complete n00b. It's wildly impractical to do hardware like that. Designing relatively simple hardware can get mind-bogglingly expensive: if you software doesn't work, you change a line of code. If your hardware doesn't work? Whole new prototype. And bugs in hardware can show up WAY down the road. Do you want the responsibility of having 10,000 units simultaneously failing because of a bad solder joint or poor choice of adhesive? NO EFFING WAY.
I'd guess doing a simple app like this on an iPhone would be about a tenth as time consuming and expensive as doing it with dedicated hardware. That's just a wild guess, for a REALLY simple app that uses GPS it could be more like a hundred times cheaper to do it on a phone. No kidding. $2,000 in time vs. $200,000 in time and prototypes and your first production run.
Just write some code. Most of the upper middle-class suburban parents I know have smartphones at this point anyway.
posted by paanta at 8:34 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
You can code a decent iPhone app in your spare time as a complete n00b. It's wildly impractical to do hardware like that. Designing relatively simple hardware can get mind-bogglingly expensive: if you software doesn't work, you change a line of code. If your hardware doesn't work? Whole new prototype. And bugs in hardware can show up WAY down the road. Do you want the responsibility of having 10,000 units simultaneously failing because of a bad solder joint or poor choice of adhesive? NO EFFING WAY.
I'd guess doing a simple app like this on an iPhone would be about a tenth as time consuming and expensive as doing it with dedicated hardware. That's just a wild guess, for a REALLY simple app that uses GPS it could be more like a hundred times cheaper to do it on a phone. No kidding. $2,000 in time vs. $200,000 in time and prototypes and your first production run.
Just write some code. Most of the upper middle-class suburban parents I know have smartphones at this point anyway.
posted by paanta at 8:34 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
It is ASTRONOMICALLY more expensive and difficult to make/distribute hardware.
This is, IMO, the only point you need to consider. It's an entire layer you need to not only pay to manufacture, but pay to design as well. And then you need to hire a developer who specializes in embedded systems- this is an increasingly small community compared to the exploding community of smartphone app developers.
Also...
- Updates? Forget it on dedicated hardware, unless you want to invest the time and money in flashable hardware. Smartphone apps can pretty much autoupdate when needed.
- Sold out? With hardware, you need the capital to front another production cycle. With software, your ongoing production costs approach zero.
- Does your friend have any experience with supply chain/distribution management? This can be a full-time job if he wants to keep control of the product.
posted by mkultra at 8:59 AM on September 17, 2009
This is, IMO, the only point you need to consider. It's an entire layer you need to not only pay to manufacture, but pay to design as well. And then you need to hire a developer who specializes in embedded systems- this is an increasingly small community compared to the exploding community of smartphone app developers.
Also...
- Updates? Forget it on dedicated hardware, unless you want to invest the time and money in flashable hardware. Smartphone apps can pretty much autoupdate when needed.
- Sold out? With hardware, you need the capital to front another production cycle. With software, your ongoing production costs approach zero.
- Does your friend have any experience with supply chain/distribution management? This can be a full-time job if he wants to keep control of the product.
posted by mkultra at 8:59 AM on September 17, 2009
You should release it as a mobile web application, so the only thing you have to worry about is data and presentation, and can upgrade and fix bugs iteratively. If it must run offline, note the iPhone/touch still support the original webkit-based applications. If your app is mostly data driven and doesn't need heavy graphics you can probably code it up in a couple weeks with a web developer skillset rather than the more complex ObjC required for native apps.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:11 AM on September 17, 2009
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:11 AM on September 17, 2009
Just on the most practical sales level - the smartphone install base is large and growing, particularly in the "middle class suburban" demographic your friend would be targeted. A $5 app is a much easier sell than a $20 or $50 or $100 gadget. A gadget that the user then has to cart around, keep track of, charge, store, etc.
What I would probably do is produce a web-enabled service that could be accessed through apps for different smartphones (iPhone, Android, BB, web widget, etc). Also I would make sure that the app was still usable offline for people who use related gadgets like an iPod Touch, so they could enter in their data, store it locally, and sync with the server or whatever the next time they're in a wifi spot.
posted by oblique red at 9:20 AM on September 17, 2009
What I would probably do is produce a web-enabled service that could be accessed through apps for different smartphones (iPhone, Android, BB, web widget, etc). Also I would make sure that the app was still usable offline for people who use related gadgets like an iPod Touch, so they could enter in their data, store it locally, and sync with the server or whatever the next time they're in a wifi spot.
posted by oblique red at 9:20 AM on September 17, 2009
I think the breaking point for new hardware these days is IO that's not already built into current smartphones: heart-rate monitors, boat sonar, and start/finish tracking using rfid tags strike me as three examples.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 10:24 AM on September 17, 2009
posted by KirkJobSluder at 10:24 AM on September 17, 2009
I hate to sound like the ads, but there may already be an iPhone app for this. Have you checked? There are at least a half-dozen "deep" baseball scoring apps, and other sports seem reasonably well-represented as well.
posted by Lazlo at 4:38 PM on September 17, 2009
posted by Lazlo at 4:38 PM on September 17, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mpls2 at 7:25 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]