"Apple's App Store boasts 585,000 apps with 1bn downloads a month"
- [Source - Thornhill, H. (2012). Apps have overtaken the Web in popularity according to the latest statistics (actually, there's probably an app to tell you that) Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2119332/App.Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2119332/Apps-overtaken-Web-popularity-according-latest-statistics-actually-theres-probably-app-tell-that.html. Last accessed 30th Nov 2013.]
[Source]
Apps have existed since before the iPhone but wasn't popularised since the release of the first ever iPhone along with the app store in 2007. The rise of such apps quickly overtook everyday life just as much as the internet for it's ease of use and convenience. Basic apps like alarms, calculators, calendars and notepads are used by all smart phone users. As the technology of apps advanced many more things became possible with standard mobile devices; You could keep up to date with the news, network with your friends, check your bank statements, use GPS, purchase items and even sell items [eBay] just with one mobile device. Research suggests that nowadays apps are even more widely used than web browsers since an individual with no laptop or computer could purchase a tablet and experience the same services in the internet for a lower price.
However this may only be true to a certain demographic for example the more mature audience. Technology evolved so quickly in the past 50 years that laptops and computers are now often complex machineries that the older users find hard to navigate around. Apps are far more practical and cleaner than a lot of desktop computer systems. Also tablets are cheaper.
Apps may be easy to use but they're just as easy to use with the amount of the resources available on the internet. An App license is $99 (around £60) per year and comes with an iOS SDK (Software Development Kit). This innovation has not only improved the lives of many, but also the businesses of huge companies like Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys. On the high street also for retailers such as Topshop, River Island, Forever 21 and more. But don't take it from me, hear more about the ease and accessibility of App development and it's future from 12 year old Thomas Suarez who appeared on TED talks which is " a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. " [Source]
Not to belittle the intelligence of 12 year olds but if this success with apps can be accomplished at such a young age, it's incredibly inspiring to think how far the boundaries of app development and technology can be pushed when backed by a house of creative ideas and the right technology.
I'd like to leave this post on a high note with one last motivational story: A man crafted his $6 billion empire from his hospital bed which began with the necessity of paying his hospital fees.
[Source - Chun, J. (2012). Chad Mureta Of App Empire Started His $6 Million App Business From A Hospital Bed. Available: npost.com/2012/06/20/chad-mureta-app-empire-6-million-business-started-in-hospital_n_1607456.html. Last accessed 30th Nov 2013.]
