posted by admin on Dec 4
Everytime I turn around - there are another bunch of ’apps’ doing the rounds!
Today there are nearly 100,000 mobile applications (apps) that you can choose from, ranging in simplicity from one that makes shotgun noises when you ‘cock’ to another one where you have to help multiple planes land, refuel, take off from your airport!
Some are challenging and seem to promote friendly competition over several weeks, and others are just one-hit-wonders that entertain you for about an hour, tops!
Why So Many?
The reason there are so many is because it is so easy to move these ideas around the office, friend groups and even the world with social networking sites and the increasing availability of ‘free’ internet time and texts etc - allowing kids and adults alike to pass these apps around to all their friends at the click of a button and seemingly ‘for free’.
Many of them save us doing a lot of ‘boring’ things like searching through phonebooks for restaurants or other services, finding tourist spots and museums as well as finding information in lists that will save us rifling through the internet services. You can even play your phone as a musical instrument!
GetJar - an online store for apps - has said that there could be 10 million apps available by 2020, and cheif executive Mr Laurs predicts that they will become more useful and more popular than the internet is now.
The Big Hitters:
Company-wise Apple run the show at the moment with over 65,000 appa available in their on-line store - but others like Nokia and Blackberry who also have smartphones are trying to replicate their success and keep in the market.
Apps-wise, no-one is really the big winner. Most apps fall away with apparently a 90% fail rate, and those that spread the globe are short lived in the grand scheme of things. Original apps need to keep coming, keep being invented and keep the user interested.
It can be something as simple as guessing which of the logos is actually the real one - which I found really tricky even though we see these logos virtually everyday (like BMW and Amazon). Or as complicated as designing a tower-block - it just needs to be something that people want to share with friends - then you have your winner.
Anyone out there can invent their own new app - all hoping to be in that remaining 10%!
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