I was just about to start another iteration or two of the synthesis program I have been dabbling with and started pondering the app. I have realised that my enthusiasm for sound synthesis had inspired me to make a clone of PureData for the web. My enthusiasm made me think that everyone else would want to use it as well and perhaps I could make a microbusiness out of it.
It occurred to me yesterday that this is probably not going to be the case. PureData has a huge amount of work put into it which would quite literally take years to recreate using my free time. Also my interested audience are going to be the PureData users and they are probably not going to switch without a lot of shoving.
When I first started the code I wanted to target the more general user, The sort of person looking for a unique explosion sound but not that interested in the finer points of sound generation. I had some idea how you could overlay the PureData approach with a UI that could be used by more general users but it was going to be a lot of work.
If I really want to solve the problem of people wanting unique explosion sounds or the splatter of rain, or blood, on window screens I should really write a program to do that, a bit like this one. Start by solving the problem I want to solve rather than writing a platform with which I can solve the problem. If as I solve the problem and a platform emerges that would be beneficial to users then it would be fun expose it otherwise it is a waste of time.
So with all this in mind I am going to cancel the synth app I have been working on and when I find time to fit it in I am going to work on an app that solves my hypothetical users requirement rather than trying to create a platform.
I don't view this as a bad thing as I am trying to get a little more focused ready for a new set of goals in the new year. I also managed to develop a reasonable amount of javascript code some of which will be reusable.
It occurred to me yesterday that this is probably not going to be the case. PureData has a huge amount of work put into it which would quite literally take years to recreate using my free time. Also my interested audience are going to be the PureData users and they are probably not going to switch without a lot of shoving.
When I first started the code I wanted to target the more general user, The sort of person looking for a unique explosion sound but not that interested in the finer points of sound generation. I had some idea how you could overlay the PureData approach with a UI that could be used by more general users but it was going to be a lot of work.
If I really want to solve the problem of people wanting unique explosion sounds or the splatter of rain, or blood, on window screens I should really write a program to do that, a bit like this one. Start by solving the problem I want to solve rather than writing a platform with which I can solve the problem. If as I solve the problem and a platform emerges that would be beneficial to users then it would be fun expose it otherwise it is a waste of time.
So with all this in mind I am going to cancel the synth app I have been working on and when I find time to fit it in I am going to work on an app that solves my hypothetical users requirement rather than trying to create a platform.
I don't view this as a bad thing as I am trying to get a little more focused ready for a new set of goals in the new year. I also managed to develop a reasonable amount of javascript code some of which will be reusable.
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