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Discussion on: Where do web development project ideas come from?

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

Not to be a bummer, but it's also important to remember some ideas just don't work out. My friend and I were automating a dispatch system for firefighters in rural Australia...they still used pagers to dispatch volunteers so we intercepted the signal and send SMS messages to brigade members so they didn't have to carry their pagers anymore and the cellular network seemed to be more reliable than the Motorola Flex network.

Everyone freakin loved it, but there is a very finite amount of rural volunteer firefighters. We made enough to pay for the site and servers and not much else. We were hoping to build up enough cred to bid on government contracts, but infighting in the company brought everything to a grinding halt. It sucks watching something you spent 40 hours a week (on top of your normal job) building burn to the ground :(

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jaakidup profile image
Jaaki

I see it quite often that the projects that could really make a difference to peoples lives don't have a way of making money, whilst some of the most useless things make millions and billions [:sigh:]

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raddevon profile image
Devon Campbell

Absolutely. If you’re looking for project ideas for learning, it’s easy. If you’re looking for ideas to make money, you need to validate your idea before you start building it.