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Old 04-15-2002, 05:54 PM
Jason Dunn
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Default The Myth of the Killer App

http://www.brighthand.com/newsite/palm/views/killerapp.html

Steve Bush published this column several weeks ago, and I've been wanting to write a rebuttal ever since. First, go read the article. Now let's talk about it...

Steve says "Truth is, I don't believe there is such a thing as a "killer app." I'd agree with him if he said "the" instead of "a". To say there's no such thing as a "killer app" denies that for every person that uses a computer or a PDA, there's one application or use for that device that, if taken away, would render it far less useful for that person. There's no ONE killer app for PDAs or computers, but each person has one thing that they use it for more than anything else. Many people that I've spoken to who are getting a computer for the first time, or upgrading to a newer one, will have one reason that stands out above the rest: "I want to edit my home videos" or "I want to play games". They'll have a long list of things they think they'll use the computer for, but there's always one thing that stands out above the rest as the focal point for that purchase: that's the killer app for them.

People are social creatures - most of us love to communicate. The flood gates on email opened up when AOL and Compuserve allowed people to email outside their "wall gardens" and allowed everyone to communicate with everyone else that had an email address. So if there's one broad stroke I can paint using the phrase "killer app" it's this: "The killer PDA applications for consumers will be based on communication in one form or another". Maybe that's instant messaging, email, or maybe it's web browsing to connect to discussion boards like this one. There's certainly no magic bullet for PDA sales: all the easy sales for people who felt PIM was the killer app have been made.

What's your killer app? What's the one thing that if it was taken away, your device would be drastically less useful? For me, it's PIM - looking up contacts, meetings, tasks, etc. is still my #1 use for my Pocket PC. There are other uses like games, audio, eBooks, spreadsheets that I use a great deal, but if PIM were to go away, I wouldn't take my device with me everywhere I went - I'd only use it when travelling.
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 06:02 PM
[Cruzer]
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For me it would 2 things. Pocket Informant and Terminal Server. Takes those things away from me and I'm dead in the water. Yes I can make do with the built in PIM's but PI does a better job. And there is no other substitution for Terminal Server..(well maybe, like VNC or Citrix but I would have to have those setup on the server end).

RC
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 06:21 PM
rubberdemon
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I agree that killer apps already exist for most people, especially the fanatics... If I hadn't become dependent on Outlook on my desktop, I would have viewed my iPAQ as not terribly indispensable. As it is, I've begun to download my brain into the thing - if it doesn't beep me for an appointment, I probably won't make the appointment...

I can forsee the communications aspect being the killer app that brings a new flood of people to PDAs - not necessarily email, though it's nice to get it on the road, but IM software, which so many people are getting hooked on. The first time I used Microsoft Messenger on my iPAQ I got so geekily excited my wife thought I'd finally lost it.
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 06:37 PM
JonnoB
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rubberdemon
The first time I used Microsoft Messenger on my iPAQ I got so geekily excited my wife thought I'd finally lost it.
Whew.... thought I was the only one. Using Messenger wirelessly was a revelation to me.
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 06:44 PM
Chris Spera
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Default 2 Killer Apps

For me, it would be the following:

Ilium Software's Keep Track and Phatware's Calligrapher.

If I lost either of these, I wouldn't carry my PDA with me hardly at all.

KeepTrack saved my checking account from a fate worse than death; and Calligrapher allows me to quickly take meeting notes with my own hand writing right in Pocket Word.

As KeepTrack is a personal app, and Calligrapher is used primarily at the office, both these apps make my iPAQ 3765 an all around winner.

Christopher Spera
-------
pocketnow Writer

pocketnow.com -- it's all about portability...
http://www.pocketnow.com
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 06:59 PM
Steve Bush
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I'd agree with him if he said "the" instead of "a".
I believe I did, Jason. Check the title of the editorial.

My position in the editorial depends on your definition of "killer app." In the editorial I define "killer app" as "...an application that makes some ordinary gadget--one that no one is really buying--so useful that people will sell their children to buy the device." If you define "killer app" as a highly useful app then you're not really disagreeing with my position, you're disagreeing with the definition I'm relying on.

However, the intent of the piece was as much to point out that the phrase "killer app" has become as dated as "groovy app" and that we should probably start weaning ourselves off it. :wink:
 
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  #7  
Old 04-15-2002, 07:56 PM
Master O'Mayhem
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Kick Ass app
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 08:13 PM
rubberdemon
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How about 'compelling app?' or 'primary app?'
 
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  #9  
Old 04-15-2002, 08:46 PM
fundmgr90210
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Default Killer apps? hmm...

At this point I'd say there are 2 killer apps that need to come into play in the world of mobile technology:

1) Affordable, high speed wireless;

2) Converged devices (voice & data) in a pleasing, convenient form factor;
 
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Old 04-15-2002, 08:56 PM
Jason Dunn
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Default Killer apps? hmm...

Quote:
Originally Posted by fundmgr90210
At this point I'd say there are 2 killer apps that need to come into play in the world of mobile technology:
1) Affordable, high speed wireless;
2) Converged devices (voice & data) in a pleasing, convenient form factor;
Ah, but those aren't apps - those are pieces of technology. What would someone do with the affordable, high speed wireless? That's the killer app component - what they do with it. :-)
 
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