Twelve million apps

The distance between "I have an idea" and "I have something that works" has never been shorter.

This is a remarkable time for software.

One of the platforms that turns a plain-English description into a working app just became a billion-dollar company. In about a year, people—most of whom have never written code—built roughly twelve million apps.

That's unprecedented.

But it made me wonder about a different number.

Of those twelve million apps, how many are still doing the job they were built to do?

How many have someone improving them and being accountable when something breaks?

I don't think that number is hidden. I just don't think it's the business these platforms are in. They sell the beginning, and they're extraordinarily good at it.

I've been thinking about that because I've felt the difference first-hand.

I've watched an idea become a working application in minutes. It genuinely feels like magic.

Then reality sets in.

You discover the edge cases. Some assumptions were right. Others weren't. And now it’s a different kind of tedious project.

Making software has never been easier

The hard part isn't creating software anymore.

It’s creating truly useful software, and making its impact truly felt.