So I had a thought.
What if the Christian Technical community came together and donated time towards a money making – for profit company whose sole purpose was to give money away? Hrmm.
Where this gets really interesting is if we were also able to incorporate best practices development and design. In a smash and run type format. A pool of ideas are considered and voted on. Once a candidate is selected team members are confirmed. Then in the span of 1 week the team assembles (virtually or locally) to bang the beta version out and release it to the public. The point being to generate revenue for another pre-arranged goal.
Consider it a technological Habitat for Humanity. A Development for Humanity type concept. Where instead of building the house directly for an impoverished individual – what if we just build web-apps that sell… then we donate the money to the family in need of a house. Or what have you. I can see applications dedicated to different causes or charities that are pre-decided upon by the group that are doing the development.
Hrmmm.
And here is where it gets interesting for the developer. I’m talking about high value, cutting edge web applications that just make sense to develop. And good code that becomes the envy of others and studied by others who are trying to emulate what it is that you are doing. This is a way for great coders to bring OK coders along. So this isn’t just a donation bucket, but a training ground of exceptional coders sharing their knowledge and resources with other Christians. Sort of a pay it forward type of a model. We’d be utilizing concepts pointed out by 37signals in their fantastic book – “Getting Real” where they say:
The less your app is a chore to build, the better it will be. Keep it small and managable so you can actually enjoy the process. If your app doesn’t excite you, something’s wrong. If you’re only working on it in order to cash out, it will show. Likewise, if you feel passionately about your app, it will come through in the final product. People can read between the lines.
Other best practices books that would be held in high regard would include:
Regardless, the vision the vision here is to tap a completely untapped market of potential. Yes, we can help our neighbors out when they have trouble accessing the internet. And yes we can develop good applications for the stock holders. But at the end of the day – are we giving everything we can be to God and to the larger picture around the world? This may be an opportunity to throw available time and resources at exciting cutting edge solutions that help further His purposes at the end of the day.