Appaholism
BI, that is, Before iPhone, I was impressed by the production values and cleverness of the "app" ads, tv and print. But it was just so much hype.
But now, AI, I have to tell you that it's all true.
Oh, yeah, there are all kinds of silly applications for the iPhone - amusing nonsense like watching the icons bounce around the screen if you shake the phone, or the much-touted, and quickly pulled "baby shaking" application. And at $2.99 and up for some of the hotter apps, you can end up spending a lot of money on silliness that will briefly amuse and quickly just clutter up your phone.
But there are also a number of surprising and clever applications, including several variations on a flashlight (the ultra-bright screen can do some serious illuminating in a limited space) - just right for finding that dropped car key on a dark night; a guitar tuner; and an app you can set to call you if you're headed into a venue (meeting, date, family reunion) from which you might need a quick escape (FakeCall).
And then there are some that are just downright useful for your day to day life: a barcode scanner (to be used in conjunction with the built-in camera); a grocery list maker; a remote desktop application; a stolen phone tracker; an iPhone version of Pandora (a self-programmed internet "radio station"). Or how about "Around Me," an app that locates services by category, using geolocation (you let the phone "find" you - and then it will tell you where the nearest Latte or Laundry can be found).
Here's a scary one - it's called "Ocarina." An Ocarina, btw, is a primitive instrument that you blow on, using your fingers to stop up holes in various combinations to create musical tones. Using this app, you literally blow on your iPhone, touching combinations of the lit-up "holes" on the iPhone screen. Don't ask me how it works... it just does.
There are news reading applications, the obligatory iPhone versions of all your favorite IM (or just get Fring and combine them all into one: covers Google Talk, AIM, Skype, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Twitter, plus VoIP calls over Wi-Fi), and social networking applications, and plenty of games for those times stuck in waiting rooms.
And of course you can get serious with things like sales tracking, expense account reconciliation, online bill paying, and any number of mapping/route-finding applications.
App developers are the hot new intellectual millionaires - and while right now it's an "iPhone thing," the whole concept of "cloud computing," that is, users selecting from a variety of applications hosted on other computers - in effect creating a "virtual computer" chock full of all the latest and greatest - just ratcheted up to a whole new level with this universe of mini-apps with which to navigate the world of work and play - and without carting your laptop around with you.
Ok, yeah, I'm a gushing idiot about my iPhone. Stay tuned, I promise to tell you - just as enthusiastically - when I run into the first serious drawback. So far, it's only been a clutch of very bad puns (when someone wants a lot of apps, they say he has a big app-etite - groan). I guess I can live with them, if the technology itself continues to be this app-ealing.
But now, AI, I have to tell you that it's all true.
Oh, yeah, there are all kinds of silly applications for the iPhone - amusing nonsense like watching the icons bounce around the screen if you shake the phone, or the much-touted, and quickly pulled "baby shaking" application. And at $2.99 and up for some of the hotter apps, you can end up spending a lot of money on silliness that will briefly amuse and quickly just clutter up your phone.
But there are also a number of surprising and clever applications, including several variations on a flashlight (the ultra-bright screen can do some serious illuminating in a limited space) - just right for finding that dropped car key on a dark night; a guitar tuner; and an app you can set to call you if you're headed into a venue (meeting, date, family reunion) from which you might need a quick escape (FakeCall).
And then there are some that are just downright useful for your day to day life: a barcode scanner (to be used in conjunction with the built-in camera); a grocery list maker; a remote desktop application; a stolen phone tracker; an iPhone version of Pandora (a self-programmed internet "radio station"). Or how about "Around Me," an app that locates services by category, using geolocation (you let the phone "find" you - and then it will tell you where the nearest Latte or Laundry can be found).
Here's a scary one - it's called "Ocarina." An Ocarina, btw, is a primitive instrument that you blow on, using your fingers to stop up holes in various combinations to create musical tones. Using this app, you literally blow on your iPhone, touching combinations of the lit-up "holes" on the iPhone screen. Don't ask me how it works... it just does.
There are news reading applications, the obligatory iPhone versions of all your favorite IM (or just get Fring and combine them all into one: covers Google Talk, AIM, Skype, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Twitter, plus VoIP calls over Wi-Fi), and social networking applications, and plenty of games for those times stuck in waiting rooms.
And of course you can get serious with things like sales tracking, expense account reconciliation, online bill paying, and any number of mapping/route-finding applications.
App developers are the hot new intellectual millionaires - and while right now it's an "iPhone thing," the whole concept of "cloud computing," that is, users selecting from a variety of applications hosted on other computers - in effect creating a "virtual computer" chock full of all the latest and greatest - just ratcheted up to a whole new level with this universe of mini-apps with which to navigate the world of work and play - and without carting your laptop around with you.
Ok, yeah, I'm a gushing idiot about my iPhone. Stay tuned, I promise to tell you - just as enthusiastically - when I run into the first serious drawback. So far, it's only been a clutch of very bad puns (when someone wants a lot of apps, they say he has a big app-etite - groan). I guess I can live with them, if the technology itself continues to be this app-ealing.
Comments