Last Thursday I attended the Dinner Conversation with Michael Belkin and was struck by the challenges app developers face.  Years of work can go into creating the perfect app and launching it, but unlike other new products which are patented, software is different.  As soon as an app comes out, others can replicate it and sell it at a cheaper price.  It is possible to patent a specific algorithm, but there are many ways in computer science to solve the same problem, so even if another developer is not using the patented algorithm, they can still create a very similar product.  Plus, anyone who knows how to code can figure out how to create an app, so new ones are coming out everyday.

Even though this creates a difficult atmosphere for developers with new ideas like Michael Belkin, it enables people to build off others ideas and make improvements to apps that wouldn’t have been possible if there were strict patents.  Without this environment, we would have nowhere near the wide selection of apps we have to choose from today.

Mr. Belkin also mentioned that although his app, a social networking app for the LGBT community, was intended for adults, the people using the app are primarily teenagers.  His team had been planning a launch for the app, but the day before it was supposed to occur, a reporter asked if Mr. Belkin would talk about why his app was rated age 12+ (Apple initially rated it 17+ but Michael Belkin’s team petitioned it).  Although Mr. Belkin’s reasoning was that he didn’t want his app to be exclusive, but rather open to all, the article that was published made it seem like the intended user group was teenagers.  Teenagers began purchasing the app, to Mr. Belkin’s surprise, and he was forced to adapt.  He advised us that as an entrepreneur, you must be willing to change your ideas and strategies because it is impossible to know exactly how the public will react to your product.