We are all familiar with the phrase: “There’s an app for that.” When it came out, it was catchy phrase associated with the iPhone. Now it has come to mean that any smartphone you might have has an application that will make your life easier or more efficient.
More than that, it has come to mean an expectation that we have about our smartphones. These applications travel with us on our phones that we put in our pockets or purses. It is also true that we have come to depend on them. Don’t think so? Ask people to tell you the phone number of a close friend. Ask them where the nearest gas station or drug store is located. In order to answer your question, they will reach for their phone.
Try this on some of your friends. Tell them about a new app you just heard about. See how long it takes them to grab their phone can look for it. In fact, use the stopwatch on your smartphone to see how long it takes them.
I’m talking about all of this because the Apple App Store just celebrated its five-year anniversary. USA Today reports that App Store downloads “have surpassed an astonishing 50 billion.” Google’s own Play store is right behind.
Today we use our phones as phone directories, calendars, planners, organizers, GPS locators, music collections, news sources, email sorters, calorie monitors, game machines, radios, and flashlights. It was hard to imagine that these phones would become such an integral part of our lives. If they have become this important to our daily lives in just five years, what does the future hold?
It is fair to say that the advances in the phone technology and the addition of all of these applications have changed our lives. There is no reason to think they won’t continue to serve us and influence us as we have more Internet capability in our vehicles and on our person (through wearable computers). It is truly amazing what we can do with a device we hold in our hands and take with us wherever we go.