“The Maker Generation.” Described by former YouTube VP and Coda co-founder and CEO Shishir Mehrotra as catalyzing when “platforms stepped aside and allowed their companies of users to turn themselves into communities of makers.” Mehrotra surmises that we are on the precipice of a new Maker Generation as people demand a more customized approach to software.
Mehrotra shares that when he first joined YouTube in 2008, many did not share his enthusiasm for the platform because they did not see the potential in disrupting the cable industry with a video platform. Now Mehrotra gives more insight into what he feels is the key to software’s long term success and surpassing people’s expectations:
- Whether you look at YouTube, Etsy or online gaming, like Fortnite and Minecraft, people want to design their own experiences.
- Software is next for the Maker Generation, drawing in problem-solving and tool-making types far outside of Silicon Valley.
- Packaged apps, software “stacks” or SaaS offers software options are available to businesses; however, AppStore and PlayStore offer millions of apps and counting.
- The key to software becoming more accessible is its “interface,” which needs an overhaul to make the design, coding, and deployment easier for DIY users.
Mehrotra ends his article with a prophecy of sorts, “The software landscape will get wider and more interesting, but also noisier. For every brilliant solution, there’ll probably be a hundred not-very-brilliant solutions. We’ll see an explosion of ideas, full of software we never would have expected. That’s how the maker generation works.”
