It does make me wonder if we shouldn't try crowdsourcing the features of an app from scratch. What do you think? Worthwhile or not?
I'm interested in user and developer views on whether this is worthwhile.
Rob's ideal DJ app spec
Rob publishes his specification for an ideal DJ application. I think it is interesting that some apps have some of the features etc. I seem to find that a lot these days.
It does make me wonder if we shouldn't try crowdsourcing the features of an app from scratch. What do you think? Worthwhile or not?
I'm interested in user and developer views on whether this is worthwhile.
It does make me wonder if we shouldn't try crowdsourcing the features of an app from scratch. What do you think? Worthwhile or not?
I'm interested in user and developer views on whether this is worthwhile.
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I think that is a good idea - and not just for DJ apps.
I'm in but call me thick what's crowd sourcing?
I'm not an active iOS developer, but as a musician and a former software developer, these are my thoughts:
Crowdsourcing is great for getting ideas, but ultimately you need to have a customer.
And not everyone in the crowd is going to be a customer. In fact, most won't be. You'll have piles and piles of ideas from people who aren't actually invested in using the product.
Meanwhile, developing such an app has a real cost in time and money.
So my suggestion is: crowdsource the funding as well. Set it up on Kickstarter.com or a similar sort of "crowd venture capital" service. Take the feature suggestions from those who are actual investors in the project.
Even if someone just gives a dollar, that adds a lot more weight to their suggestion.
Great idea. From looking into lots of the DJ apps which are worthwhile out there at the moment, there is clear convergence of functionality coming through. I would give it another 6 months or so and most will be offering much the same functionality give or take. Then it will be down to responsiveness, UI design and price rather than functionality. The first 2 being most important if considering using a DJ app live.
Is it really possible to simulate realistic turntables with touch interfaces, that have 50ms delay? I don't think so.. It's good as a toy not for professional scratch. IMO the biggest misconception here is to emulate all limitations of analog devices. Why not choosing the new way? (see Ableton / Traktor)
The crowdsourcing idea is interesting for funding development. I've thought about it, but using Kickstarter for funding offers some difficulties. Mainly in the way of incentives. Most of the projects have something tangible to give back to the people donating at different investment levels.
With an app what can you give back, especially when you are limited in the way of promo codes? Is the idea of getting all the wanted features enough?
I've invested with kick-starter before. Still haven't actually gotten a physical product. Gotten gamertags and special skins etc, but have had to still pay for the final game (in some instances I've paid for the beta then again for the final game). Other times it's been a photo of the art installation, etc (I've spent a lot on this site). Point is, the incentive doesn't have to be something as tangible as promo codes. It could be as simple putting investors names in the credits. After all, someone was clever enough to think outside the box and design this site, surely an app dev can think outside the box as well?
/tipsy rambling
A customisable UI would be a unique perspective on a DJ app. Allow for creation of templates so you can move widgets around (like putting your cross fader, pitch controls, waveform display and main buttons wherever you want on the screen). Customise the colour settings (I'd quite like a Tron style black & blue scheme!). I've stuck some more thoughts on my blog here.
@ DJ Hombre
The different themes / skins thing is something I have been wanting to do for a while. Maybe this Kickstarter thing is worth looking into.
@ 2 Potato
Thats true that it does not have to be something tangible and it would definitely involve thinking outside the box, but I also had a friend do VERY well on Kickstarter recently and it was due not only to having a great project, but also good things available for incentives.
@giku, are you taking about android? no 50ms delay on iOS.. check out a free app called baby scratch if you want to see how well scratching can be performed on a touch screen-- it's pretty damn amazing.
cue play dj update is due to hit any time, already submitted. tap.dj is ok for
the kiddies at $2 packs in a lot of features and but cue is only thing close to pro right now. I hope they fixed the glitches on loops.. it was really the only thing holding it back from being performance ready.
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