Earlier quoted context omitted.
Curious – what do you use Screens for?
Controlling the Mac Mini under my TV.
I see, for the keyboard mostly? I always thought using a mouse over VNC on an iPhone seemed awkward.
Ten apps is all I need
91–100 of 130 posts
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#92Re: Ten apps is all I need
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a great pity because it has such tremendous potential! They're still stubborn with the form factor, when the market clearly shows most popular devices are candy bar form factor. iPhone, most Android phones etc
It might help Palm/HP to switch to a candybar style, but I'm glad companies are willing to diverge from the template Apple has created. We already have an iPhone, you've got to make your device different some how. More importantly, it gives us a choice.
It may be different, but that's all for nothing if they can't survive. Have your Pre-style devices, if you must, but make a candybar device too. Just don't go overboard on the choices however, because the more devices you have, the more mindshare you need to capture from users.
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#94I feel like he's missing the point of an ecosystem. It's fine that he only uses a few apps on his phone, and that most other people probably do the same. The problem is that those "few apps" that most other people use aren't the same "few apps" that he uses.
>The problem is that those "few apps" that most other people use aren't the same "few apps" that he uses.
are they really? having one or two obscure apps might be nice, but there are very, very few people for whom app availability is actually a necessity.
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am having problems believing the 3rd point as Nokia is just laying of a lot of Meego-developers. As for current Maemo/Meego-experience, I think not much can actually be said before the phones appear at stores this fall.
nokia are not laying off any meego developers.
http://www.mwkn.net/2011/18/front.html
4000 mostly from meego and symbian. So yes they actually are laying off at least some meego devs.
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#96The iPhone had sold millions of units before the app store launched. A significant proportion of iPhone and iPad users have downloaded less than a handful of apps. I'm very much of the opinion that apps were more effective as a viral marketing strategy than as a truly attractive feature. People talk about apps, people show their friends, but most of the non-geeks I know don't actually use anything but the built in ap…
"and Angry Birds"
I bet games is the big exception here. I bet many of the "non-geeks" referenced by you and others in this thread have downloaded a few games to their iPhone, and would be much less likely to switch to a competitor that didn't have the same games or games that were just as good.
One more counter data point: at a party last Saturday in a room with a bunch of non-geek college kids, fiddling with their iPhones, one of them spontaneously asks "Hey, what's that app that can tell you the name of a song if you hold it up to the microphone?" One of the other college kids quickly confirmed that it was called Shazam.
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except for Twitter... This is a variation of m0nitaly's point: I would say "except for Instapaper, Reeder, and Twitter..." and Jasber would say "except for Rdio and RunKeeper..." Even if apps 1-10 are native, I'm hanging onto my iPhone for numbers 11 and 12. The native iOS experience is great, but those two or three non-native apps make it sublime.
I still think that is really only true of the "geek" crowd. I am pretty sure none of my real life friends that weren't computer science majors have even heard of Instapaper or Reeder or Rdio or RunKeeper. The majority of the "number 11" apps that I use are mainly because either they don't have a workable mobile site (HN) or the mobile website doesn't quite work well enough (reddit, imdb, possibly facebook) but the la…
My boss makes very heavy use of the Starbucks app. My daughter has a billion apps that she uses daily and they aren't all games.
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't disagree with what you say about the core experience and the danger of generalising from personal experience but there have been 14 billion app downloads. That's a lot for something which a lot of people seem to be suggesting is either irrelevant or niche. I think what you say may have been true in the past but I do think moving forward apps are playing an increasing role, even if it is just three or four for…
I suspect a lot of those 14 billion downloads are games. If my experience is at all typical then most users go through an initial frenzy of downloading "productivity" apps only to eventually erase or ignore most of them. Apple likes to tout its $2 billion in app sales but consider that's what one really big blockbuster film might make worldwide. Proportionally it's a tiny market.
No need to guess folks. The Nielson report from last year has plenty of data on app usage on smartphone. Games are indeed on top.
EDIT: url to report: http://www.slideshare.net/zebs/nielsen-mobile-apps-whitepape...
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#99Mostly agree with David’s points. I have at least 30 apps on my iPhone. Of those, I use 5-6 on a regular basis, half of which were developed by Apple and came pre-installed.
The endless variety of the app store is impressive, but there’s so much cruft in there it’s beginning to feel more like an app Walmart. A large fraction are either redundant or slapped together to make a quick buck.
I’d trade the majority of my apps just to have more seamless interaction with those aspects of this device I find most useful; the camera app in particular. It’s perplexing that Apple has just now decided to allow us to use a volume button as a shutter. I’ll forgive that on the basis of the brilliant decision to add a camera shortcut on the lock screen — that is an example of the type of improvements that really make a difference in the everyday utility of these incredible pocket machines.
Whoever masters the art of making it easy for a five-fingered hand to effortlessly soar through those fundamental functions it’s difficult to imagine being without (phone, messaging, browser and camera in particular) is who will ultimately earn my dollar. /raaant
Re: Ten apps is all I need
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but how many of those native apps can be replaced with web apps that already exist? Is 2,000 enough for 80% of people? A few great games, some time wasters, and the basic smartphone functionality? There are always going to be a few developers who take a chance on a new platform, especially if it's developer friendly. And if the 2,000 come and are well received, the rest will follow.
Most people do not see Android, Apple and Nokia devices as being any different. They all have big screens, cameras, web, email, etc... They don't understand specs, so they judge on what they know. They do know apps, so this is one way in which they will judge the use of a phone. Now, nobody will use 300,000 apps, but everyone knows 300,000 is better than 100,000, or 2,000.
I completely disagree. Once a platform hits a critical mass of app support (well below 300k, still well below 100k and even below 2k though that's in the right neighborhood), bigger numbers are a net negative, IMO. A hundred thousand more apps is just a ton more garbage you have to wade through to find the very few good ones.