12 in ’12

2012 is coming up quickly, and I am preparing for a busy year. One thing I think would be cool to accomplish is 12 web apps in 12 months. I am not thinking full amazing apps, but simple ( Proof of Concept (POC)) apps that can later be tuned into better and more complete apps. Here is a list of what I am thinking so far:

• Ticket System
• Invoice System
• PingFM Replacement
• Something with Twilio
• Project Manager
• Customer Relation Manager (CRM)
• Linode Management Tools

That’s only 7, so I need to work on some more app ideas, but as of this morning I am stuck, at least I have 7 months worth of POCs to build. I am sure in that time I will come up with 5 more.

Why only POCs

These apps are projected at the POC level only because I have a day job, a family I love and want to be with, and other responsibilities.  However, I think if I limit myself to POC level apps I can easily create 12 apps in 12 the months of 2012 and build a small portfolio of apps to work on in the coming years.

So Why Do It At All?

I strongly believe in learning through doing. I think that building things from scratch can give an appreciation for things that are already pre-built and can lend some insight into the way things are.

Extending the Challenge

Although I would be just as content to do this all alone, I think it would be cool to get a community together of people to push each other to 12 apps in 12 months, so here is the official start of the challenge. Get together your preliminary list of 12 apps to create in 2012. Don’t worry about the details too much, and don’t start on the actual apps until 2012! Leave me a comment with a link to your list of apps you want to create and I will create a page for all of the people participating.

Sidenote: If 167+ people sign up there would be over 2012 new apps in 2012… just saying.