A Retreat from Game Subscriptions
Remember the persistent idea of an evergreen gaming service, a "Netflix for games," that gamers had been clamoring for since…well, since Netflix became a household name? We did enjoy a brief era...
Services
Prosumers Skew Expectations
Well, it keeps on happening. The Browser Company, the entity behind the innovative browser Arc, announced that they are "slowing down" the development of their flagship browser, and redirecting their team towards something...
Gaming to Engage
Remember when gamification was the technique du jour a decade ago? The software industry pounced on the idea that game mechanics—known to trigger the dopamine releases that keep users coming back for more—could...
Software Business Longevity
Reading about Artifact's announcement of their imminent shutdown was a bummer. Rereading some of the media coverage of the app when it came out of beta a year ago, much of what the founders said at the time made sense. Social networks, particularly when there are already a handful of entrenched, mature services,...
Batched Reading Efficiencies
I'm trying a new read-it-later app, Omnivore. Alright, so trying out a new app isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. It's a good...
The Folly of Custom Syncing
I just spent about 4 hours trying to debug Day One's syncing system. Day One is the journaling app, built primarily for iOS but eventually made its way to the Mac, Android, and web. I've been using it for a full decade, initially to jot my thoughts down as a new...