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Ask HN: Is mobile a good career path?

8 points by MyDummyAccount ↗ HN
I am currently working as a web developer and have been for the past few years. I'm fairly happy at my current company, but I was recently approached by a consulting firm about becoming a mobile developer (iPhone, Android, perhaps some HTML5 apps). It seems like a good situation and I think it would be fun. My biggest question is, is mobile development a good field to get into, or would I be better suited in the long term to stay in web development?

My fear is that mobile may begin dying out over the next few years and leave me with a lot of unusable experience. On the other hand, mobile is a market currently experiencing a lot of growth, so it could be even bigger in the future.

All that to say, what direction do you see the mobile market going in the near-to-mid future?

6 comments

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gharbad
I doubt that mobile platforms/languages change as fast as the flavor-of-the-month in the web space..

Looking ahead several years, you're likely to be using a new language/tools regardless.

byoung2
All that to say, what direction do you see the mobile market going in the near-to-mid future?

I think we'll see a convergence of the web, mobile, and tablet spaces. Mobile is largely OS-specific at this point, but we are seeing a trend toward HTML5 apps. Same with tablets, where HTML5 was already popular, given the large screens and the fact that there were fewer OS-specific apps than with mobile. And with the web, the newest generation of HTML5-compatible browsers just launched, with FireFox 4 and IE9 joining WebKit. To design a new app today, particularly with audio and video, your best bet would be to go with HTML5 so you could kill 3 birds with one stone...you can reach the web, mobile, and tablets, without having to reinvent the wheel on both iOS and Android.

jacksond
First things first, mobile is not dying out. It will be an increasingly large portion of application development for a long time, all of the major players are deeply committed to mobile.

I would not worry about gaining 'unusable' experience. Working in IT/Development means you need to be constantly learning. Gaining experience with the hot platforms (iOS/Android) now will only make it easier to adapt to future mobile advances.

Like I said, the mobile market will only increase in the near to mid future. Anyone entering the mobile space will need to be aware of how to more effectively server their users/customers in a cross-channel and cross-platform way. I believe you can't go wrong with focusing on becoming a mobile expert, if you are passionate about what it offers.

geoffw8
Hey - ex-mobile guy here.

I used to work at Blyk, ad funded mobile network that started in the UK and has grown out into some other territories.

I guess the short answer is: you can make a ton of money in mobile.

Anyway, I've got friends now who are on the visual side of things (ranging from all levels of experience) and they charge anywhere from £200-£500 a day.

You have to get into the right circles, i.e. with the ad agencies (not mobile agencies) - then you can make an absolute fortune. For these guys mobile is a dark art, they don't get native apps (still) and HTML 5 is still a long way away for them.

If your going to go down this route, don't package yourself up as a developer or designer - if you are able to plan a campaign for someone like Mastercard, with a gimmicky app or similar (and make the prototype) then your absolute gold dust.

Anyway, long story short - lots of money in mobile, knowledge is sparse, work with ad agencies and definitely (if you can) freelance.

bricestacey
This comment piques my interest. I am a developer and my girlfriend is a digital media planner. We want to maybe start a business together that merges both our skills, but we're not sure how to implement anything you mention. I'd love to chat, but I don't see any contact info in your profile. My email is in my profile.
xsmasher
I'm not sure how mobile could "die out," unless you mean web apps will replace native apps. That hasn't happened on the desktop and it won't happen in mobile; they'll continue to live side by side into the far future.

I work in mobile games and we're desperate for good devs.