An idea age

People all over are talking about ideas. Everybody these days has an idea in their mind.Some have many ideas. Good ideas. A friend of mine on facebook says everything they've thought of has already been implemented on an app.

"Every time I have an idea for a new App, I discouver that ten people already created something just like it." ~ George Harrison. Oyier 2012

Those who've made it had ideas. They just did not stop at that. When they implemented them then the difference in their ideas was manifested even when they seemed to have one idea. Youtube & vimeo are two similar video repositories. They however have differences that are distinct to their users. Facebook & Twitter yet being social platforms are so different. The users know that. The founders Jack & Mark had ideas which at the idea stage would have sounded similar. There'd have been people saying/asking why we need two social platforms. They'd even probably have suggested the two meet up and come up with 'One bigger social network'. Are we not seeing other players coming up as late as today.
Same thing applies to our ideas today. Somebody(person A) asked how m-health(an app that was being developed my one Joseph Mokaya) was different to medkenya (App by mbugua njihia & so and so). Someone else(person B) asked why WapiDamu(an initiative to help source for blood-donors) as opposed to WanaDamu(an initiative to get the blood-donors by person B's pals). Both personA and B were only shielding their friends as the 'originator' of that particular idea.We get ideas and we're so quick to shield others from coming up with an idea with similarities to ours saying that they copied 'our' idea. #Fail.

Ideas are from God i say. Let's accept that everybody else has and learn to work with those whose idea is like ours.

.....just my idea

Innovation needs no Incubation, I think

Have you realized how apps that win competitions go nowhere? And as if that's not enough, do you know how judges decide the winner? Presentation. A lot of money is floating in the everywhere waiting to be won in the next competition. In fact Myself if I had money to sponsor an event, I would. At least  to remain relevant against my competitors. I think we're training presenters as opposed to innovators.So, is this what we're calling innovation? I know and you also can give examples of individuals and groups who appear on every next competition with an idea/app and actually take home a runners up prize if not win it. Seems we/you created a career for presenters at the expense of innovators. Now let me be honest, most of the applications that don't win in competitions make most business sense or at least could be changed a little to work? And this means that they are sustainable solutions to the existing problems. That to me would be innovation

Let's come to my main point.

They are doing it. Innovation is acted on.

Innovation needs no Incubation. The successful ones did not need it; neither will the successful future ones need it. Innovation should be sustainable. I/We know of PesaPal & Cheki. See what they're doing? Compare that to KamataKab or even Mfarm. I'll not mention the detailed weaknesses but you know  M-farm has kind of changed their model severally.

 As for KamataKab, the last tweet they ever had that would be relevant to implementing it was on january 5th and it was to wish it's audience a happy new year.

Happy new year people

— kamatakab (@kamatakab) January 5, 2012

These  apps/ideas who won an iPad, money or just something else never go far beyond the publicity they get from winning. No pun intended but by now you get what I meant to put across

Here's a link i'd suggest you go read and understand more on this.

http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/are-social-impact-innovations-distracting-kenya-from-real-business/15968/

Call this my lucky google day

I've waited for this day for quite sometime. A day when I'm able to advertise on my blog. Not that it's something big, but your Technical team thinks it is. In fact, I already have another ad sense account but trying to use it on this blog always results to closing it. Reason... unacceptable content. I must say anyway that I'm glad to finally be able to advertise after all that struggle. I know I won't probably make lots of mullah(read money) from that (apart from my clicks) but at least my friends will believe and see I'm making something :). Point Home.

Secondly I must say I'm liking the new google. I honestly did not read the terms of use for it but I'm liking it so far so it's okay regardless of the last statement 'we reserve the right to change the terms at any time with no prior notification'.  I like the sidebar on the right that gives easy access to simple publishing tools such as scheduling and labels(tags in wp)

 Blogger, i must say has been such a hard blogging platform to navigate. The overall simplicity of blogger on this day makes it such a lucky one for my. I do believe at this rate I'll be at peace with less FAQ's (oops wrong link).

It's pretty late here so i'm out.. enjoy the rest of your day

@PataSQ's mention on DN

I'd post this on SQ Blog but due to the un suitability of the truth in here I'd

rather 'hide' it here. On Sunday My project(PataSQ) and I was mentioned in the newspaper(BUZZ pg. 5) on how we're innovating to touch lives and make better use of technology within colleges & universities. For once I'd found myself running in town looking for a newspaper to see what was said about me. I must say it felt nice to get texts and calls of congratulations after having pushed the idea for half a year now. Having been mentioned in the newspaper has a way of massaging one's ego in such a way you'd buy two newspapers and keep them and on top of that scan it so that you keep it in digital. Well that is Good.

For me however that meant something else . That I have to gear up and do much more to keep touching lives with what I can. PataSQ is an app that is fairly young and at a very initial stage. It's not something that will be making money in the near future. I however hope to pair with like minds and make the best out of the outcome. More so the publicity arising from that will make more people willing to come on board and offer help on the same or other projects I'm working on- Good.

As an important milestone, PataSQ will head forward unto greater heights but I'll continue targeting students and the like.

app nomenclature - a dull pattern

This post has been long overdue. Over time I have followed the trend in naming apps and it's clearly a pattern. Have a look at a list I came up with from various sites. These are 'upcoming' apps or recent start-ups based on apps.

1. mCollector
2. mPermit
3. M-Tafiti
4. MyBusiness App
5. SMS Offline and Online virtual Market place
   
6. Andromaid
7. FarmPal
8. mpoultry
9. MPrep
10. Crowdpesa
11. I travel
12. mTracker
13. m-verified
14. Cloudmatatu
15. cloud governor
16. [the list is endless... not really but it is long]

And now my point, Over the last few years of what I think of as 'the mobile revolution' in eastafrica (more specifically in Kenya) There has been many apps and app competitions.

Don't you think that these apps have names that are techie? saying m-something or crowd-something or cloud-something does not relate to a basic user.

Maybe a user would think that cloud- something is an app for meteorology.

The i and the m also are not exactly the best names for the apps from wanjiku's side but we seem to like them cause other techies clap for us and they don't need lot's of explaining to know what 'our' idea was.

Don't get shocked to hear two apps with the same name but none copied the other's; Reason- our app-naming follows an obvious style. I can guess the next matatu app that wins any competition will be called 'm-matatu' or 'm-nganya' and if not it's something close to that, or maybe it already exists. Then utapata domain yako imesha kuwa registered. Or worse you start saying somebody copied your idea. (see patahao & patasq).

So please as you name your next app, consider wanjiku. Won't you? it's also a good idea to have a name that can have a global effect.

PS: Don't mistake me for saying that they're bad apps. Some of these apps are doing well apart from winning competitions. A book shall not be judged by it's cover... but a better cover won't hurt.

The new Kenyan Dev

Techies- members of the tech cult. You will see them, everywhere in town. A sign of one is a bag-pack on their back. That's a laptop they're carrying back there. Quite a healthy practice to walk with weights all over in town. Of these techies there is coders and non-coding techies. I'll blog about the coding ones and leave the rest for another day.

These are of two types

CODERS COPY & PASTE(C-ctrl+ctrlv): These are the fortunate ones to discover google. They somehow learnt that whenever you consult google, you will always get free code for whatever you want. They are bright and are propelled by a middle's man spirit (or brokers mindset - for lack of a worse word). They are genius and at the slightest eavesdrop of an idea, they are quick to look for the REAL coders to 'work with them' on the same <== not so cool. This is just the era of 'bus-stop entrepreneurs' who earn from 'filling a bus/mat'. The work done by the same is nil but they feel they deserve a pay for making people board a mat.smh! C&P coders are no better.

CODERS-from scratch(CFS): These appreciate that coding is a practice of creativity and the more you subject yourself to coding the better it feels to be called a coder. They are mostly pushed by obsession to learn and create stuff from what they've learnt. They understand what they're doing and are what everybody is looking for.

I'd thought of creating a company/group/movement called from-scratch ™ where only people who do stuff from scratch synergize (work together).

Interestingly, Coders from scratch are not many and everybody is looking for them. Among these few coders many don't have resources (The needed for them to get up and do stuff). On the other side the C&P geniuses are highly alert with all it takes to be in the know of an idea that could be floating in the hands of an ignorant genius. smh!

Seriously if you think we can start something ping me and let me know what.

PS: CFS can check out africacoders a real coders repository coming up soon. Let's build solutions that touch lives. I am btw ;)