The Wall Street Journal has posted an article on off-the-wall business ideas (mostly apps) that are taken seriously and, in some cases, have a modicum of commercial success. The premis is simple: A developer has a crazy idea (for a smartphone or iPad app, for example) that he or she thinks is a joke. Other people, including investors, think the idea has merit, it gets built, and consumers buy it.
Take, for example, iPoo. iPoo allows smartphone users sitting on toilets to chat with each other. Sound like a joke? It started off as one, but according to the Wall Street Journal, more than 200,000 people have downloaded it at $1.oo a pop. That’s $200,000 in revenues for a project that probably took a few days to create. Of the 25 reviews on iTunes, the sentiment is extraordinarily positive. The poopooers mostly object on the grounds of inappropriateness, which probably means they shouldn’t be using it in the first place. Thank goodness Apple let CellingNow sell it.
Of course, not all ideas are an immediate success. TacoCopter will have to overcome FAA regulations to launch its home delivery service using remote control mini helicopters. It will also have to overcome technical problems that caused its test copter to crash moments after its initial payload was loaded. But it’s biggest problem is PR. Steven Colbert (ab)used the concept in one of his routines and Wired.com said the business is “completely fake.”
But isn’t this where great ideas come from? Crazy, off-the-wall ideas get refined and become real products. iPoo has made a tidy profit for its creators (and given most of us a chuckle). And who among us hasn’t dreamt of low altitude highways for consumers; why not for consumer products?
The best line in this particular article comes from Eric Kerr of Columbus, Ohio, who bears partial responsibility for spoof site Itsthisforthat. Eric says, “Even if it sounds silly from the beginning, nobody knows what will work and what won’t work. The best approach is to try it and see what happens.”
For those who want to read the original WSJ article, here’s the link.