Michael J. Sikorsky | Reports Greatly Exaggerated

RunningMap.com is a map-based mashup for people who need to determine the distance of the routes they walk, run, cycle or whatever. It has a simple but effective feature set. It is a sharp tool. Primary goals have always been to keep the site clean and simple to use. Elevation is an import addition to location data and enhances the ability of RunningMap as an effective tool for route planning and analysis. “Search by keyword” lets people find user-saved routes in their area or in another city they plan to travel to.

When Apple introduced GPS capability in the iPhone 3G, I immediately saw an opportunity to add a mobile component to the web site. The iPhone represents a convergence of capabilities in one device: phone, music, GPS and internet. Additionally, Apple has lowered the barrier to mobile application development and deployment: a stellar SDK and the smash hit called the App Store. It is super easy for the user to buy apps from the App Store which is followed up with a great user experience: the app installs right there and then with no fuss at all.

From the developer’s perspective, not only has Apple solved the micro-payment problem of the internet, but they provide all the e-commerce infrastructure. The developer can launch their app to 50+ countries and if people dig it, sit back and let the cheques come in.

For RunningMap this was an opportunity to a) learn a new platform to program on b) promote the website  and c) earn some money.

The APress book “Beginning iPhone Development” is great to get started with. But the real boost came from attending the iPhone Dev School 1 in Calgary last May. I learned a lot and returned home with a bunch of reference material that I referred back to many times. Especially useful were the “pro tips” that we were peppered with throughout the weekend. The Google group created for the School has been a great forum for questions. And of course it does not hurt to have access to Russell Bryant who has extensive experience in programming Objective C for the NeXT Step platform.

Neither Dustin nor I thought we would get accepted on the first attempt. There were just too many variables and stories floating around. I knew that we would have some good initial sales because we have a large user base we can tell about the release. But I had no idea we would make into the top ten of the Health and Fitness category so quickly.

You will need a slick icon. Find a good designer. You will need help with marketing. Find someone who knows where to press the right buttons. Keep it simple!

Book: Dune by Frank Herbert (the first book of the series)

Movie: The English Patient