Every time I watched YouTube videos, I wished there was something like YouTube for software — a platform where people could create and enjoy all sorts of software goodies.
GitHub is great, but it's mostly for the tech-savvy crowd. Google Play and Apple App Store are solid, but they aren't interesting to explore. The Web is ubiquitous and lively, but it can't bring us income out of the box. Setting up a software company involves a ton of manual labor, from marketing and distribution to sorting out payment systems and dealing with all the legal stuff. It's a real hassle.
Imagine a platform that people visit daily, like the shopping streets on their way home, where clever algorithms connect them with software that can tackle their problems of the day or satisfy their desires. That would be a game-changer.
Such a platform could probably define a new category of software as well, like YouTube videos being neither sophisticated TV programs nor unpolished recordings. This new type of software might be more informative, educational, and community-driven — more like content that invites people to explore and participate. A piece of software might notify you about potential danger nearby, teach you about gardening, or facilitate a social initiative.
Software is a powerful medium. It is interactive, and it can connect people from all over the world. A platform like YouTube, but for software, would allow more people to tell stories and more people to voice their opinions with this powerful medium. With the platform, we would build more software bakeries, and less software factories.