troy was here

Do you like apps?  Aside from fiddling around with a few iPhones a while back, I really have no idea how fun they can be.  I mean, there are different apps for different people for different goals and for different situations …and I suppose on one hand they can be helpful, rewarding and entertaining.  On another hand though, they can also be time wasting, frivolous or a distraction from the things you need to do.

I happened to visit the iTunes store today (of which I’ve bought nothing ever and usually come across accidentally) and started browsing the apps that seem to be the most popular, as well as staff picks and some random searching.  I kinda liked it.  Kinda.  What it reminded me of in a big way was the old days when I’d browse sites like PureMac and Hitsquad (OS 9 era into early OS X …and I still have them bookmarked!) and I’d download different applications to play around with to see if I’d use.  I’d also be privy to different hacks and serial numbers (warez sites) so I could use the applications in full and to my hearts content.

After many years of this I eventually came to realize that I didn’t really use anything.  I had it on my computer and aside from the initial joy of getting something new and for free, it just sat there.  Heck, I still have old discs full of software (notice how I didn’t use the word ‘applications’) and various things on my current backup drive.  Am I a hoarder?  Have I convinced myself that one day I’ll actually play Halo and Redline?  Use Mariner Write and Calc?  Amazing Slow Downer?  No, not really.  They sit there because they’re useless to me.  I have time for them if I choose, but I’m at that point in my life where I kinda use what works …and my needs are pretty simple when you get down to it.

The marketing behind these current apps is pretty slick.  By lowering prices to 99 cents (or slightly more) you’re giving the customer the illusion that they’re essentially getting something for free.  “It’s only 99 cents so why not get it, if I don’t use it then I haven’t really wasted anything.” might be the mindset, but when you think about it you are wasting something.  Your time.

A lot of these apps do similar things but with a different interface and a lot of them simply migrate the user from one computing experience to another.  Technology isn’t really providing anything new as much as it’s providing a different way of doing what you’ve always done.  Occasionally there will be something that might boost your productivity, create something different or even perhaps revolutionary, but generally speaking, as far as I can tell, you’re still doing the same thing you’ve done in the past but in a slightly different format.  And, you’ve paid to do it …again.

I guess it’s no surprise really.  It’s like getting anything new …it’s not that you need it as much as it is that you want it.  And I suppose that’s progress in a round-a-bout way.

*damn, I must be getting old.  or crotchety.  crotchetier?*

Days I will never get back! ...Image from Ambrosia Software.