Sex APPeal: BlackBerry vs. Apple

Unbeknown to many, the commercialized availability of smartphone applications is barely a year old. Since the inception of the Apple App Store on July 11 last year, global activity has topped 1.5 billion downloads. Not to mention, of course, the 10 million downloads the first weekend the App Store was available. While the launch of the App Store pre-empted the release of the BlackBerry Storm, RIM's first touch-screen smartphone, BlackBerry was quick to catch up introducing it's own App World in March of 2009.

Both the Apple and BlackBerry app stores provide wireless download capability, with several new applications being added each day. In my own experience, I have owned an iPod Touch since September 2007 and a BlackBerry Storm since November 2008. After countless downloads, trials and erasing most apps from both devices, there are a few conclusions that can be reached for the current state of each app store:

BlackBerry App World

Pros

• Coverage: With Verizon's 3G network, applications that require streaming capability or constant connection fare much better than an iPhone or Palm Pre any day. If you are an Apple fanatic, I am sorry. This is a verifiable fact.
• Productivity: BlackBerry continues to dominate the business world, and the App World naturally reflects the business landscape. If you are a frequent traveler, salesman, productivity manager or receive hundreds of messages a day, there is a guaranteed app or two to make your life easier.
• Compatability: With very few exceptions, virtually all downloads available in App World will function on any recent BlackBerry model. There is little concern about whether you will have to upgrade your mobile OS or purchase an entirely new phone.

Cons

• Quantity: If you want to spend hours browsing App World, your joy ride will end relatively quickly. While there are several hundred apps from which to choose, you are unlikely to find niche apps, such as a one developed for Dairy Queen or obsessed CSI fans.
• Price: There are several apps available that are 100% free of charge, but some will set you back as much as $30 for each download. Despite this apparent drawback, many of the more expensive options are used for business-related functions that serve specific purposes. In some cases, an app purchase could be paid for by one's company.
  
• Support: The App World is still in it's infancy, and third party developers have only had a few months to begin creating BlackBerry-compatible app syntax. It is still early to judge whether or not RIM has dropped the ball on opening up it's API. In the mean time, technical support and "buggy" symptoms still plague many available applications.

Apple App Store

Pros

• Availability: In spite of the App World, Apple currently boasts more than 65,000 applications available for download.
  
• Speed: One clear advantage that Apple products maintain is the access to Wi-fi when it is available. While the AT&T network may lag, an iPhone or iPod Touch can pick up wireless signals and operate at normal speeds in some areas.
  
• Usability: The touch interface is very fluid and responsive on new Apple models, which minimizes frustration while learning new applications. Ironically, the iPhone and iPod Touch's inability to run multiple programs at once give them an advantage while operating downloaded software.
  
• Price: While thousands of apps are free, many more popular downloads are a mere $.99 - a price that will not break the bank when you are disappointed with a download.
  

Cons

• Navigation: With so many new apps available on a near daily basis, it has become a daunting task to keep up the latest updates on each program. While Apple is working on redesigning the aesthetics of the App Store, relief from navigation frustrations is a light very far from the end tunnel.
• Time: Aside from the time it takes to navigate through the entirety of the App Store, many applications are simply for novelty use. This begs the quesion whether Apple has a reputable place in the business market, or if it serves as a distraction rather than a tool for efficiency.

The ultimate decision is yours, of course, but I hope this insight helps. Feedback welcomed and appreciated.

The Future of Social Media

If you consider yourself even to be mildly Internet savvy, most people would be shocked if you haven't investigated at least one social media website. By the end of 2008, it is expected that there will be more than 230 million members of social media sites worldwide.

Social media is still a relatively infantile service, but there are literally thousands to choose from for any purpose under the sun, including professional, political, social, special interest, dating, and so on. But with boom of social media, where new sites are launched almost daily around the world, what is the main hype? What about 10 years from now?

One hotly contested topic is how to generate revenue from these sites. There are plenty of business models available (even some that work), but speculation is still widespread since the key characteristic to many popular sites is a free membership policy. Advertising is the largest profit contributor (by a wide margin), which made the social media industry worth more than 970 million dollars in 2007.

Furthermore, thousands of companies have slowly begun to realize the benefit of reaching their target demographics through social media outlets, which has sparked a slow revolution in cyberspace interactivity. Here are some predictions for the future of the social media madness:

1. Content aggregation will take the spotlight. Most companies or groups with a message are mostly interested in using "sexy" marketing campaigns. Viral video contests, build your own site or profile, etc. Content, however, will always trump other features. Searching for content can be a little inefficient for most sites, even for the monsters such Facebook, MySpace and Blogger. Therefore, finding what you're looking for can take some valuable time.

More and more businesses are literally spending millions of dollars creating mediocre widgets and "stuff" simply to throw their name and brand messaging on it. At a fraction of the cost, the same companies could aggregate the most important content in their brand, provide a utility that matters to the site's users, and get tremendous brand equity in return.

2. Mobility and utility equal survival. Within the next decade, it is likely that most online services will have some form of mobile access. Facebook Mobile and Twitter are common examples, but thousands of websites have developed a mini-screen format for their sites as well. While most new designs are made for the iPhone, Blackberry, or Treo, there are text-based versions for almost any phone with a screen and web access.

Because this technology is already available and improving exponentially, it is inevitable that it will be commonplace in the already saturated market of social media.

3. Out with the old, in with the new. Twitter's problems and debugging efforts are well known, but it certainly isn't the only service to only get it half right. With the emergence of newer companies with more sound software and API, it is possible that Twitter will become the Friendster of microblogging. As developers begin to interact in open sourcing (watch the Google Campfire One lecture if you don't believe me), it is a matter of time until popular sites and services are obsolete and new sites take their place.

Love or hate what you have read, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. New site design will be up soon!