Yes, a list of most popular iPhone apps is great, but I think it's more than that. We can look at the 'majority' and see what apps most use or look for in an 'always connected' device, but then if we limit ourselves with that, we are missing a great deal of opportunity here.

I think a device should tap certain user groups and these user groups are random. The key here is making a device work for anyone -- this is hard. It becomes harder when Nokia keeps marketing the N-series (and now Maemo devices) for 'cutting-edge' users. This should be stopped and just work hard to target everyone. 'Cutting-edge' nowadays has just become 'the ordinary'.

Now let's go back to the apps and a way to target everyone. Apple is just brilliant with the iPhone/iPod touch "There's an app for that" ads. Before you roll your eyes because I'm praising Apple, think about it for a minute -- "there's an app for that." Now, look at these posts from TUAW (the first is quite interesting):

• 10 cool videos of the iPhone as a music instrument
• Five Apps for the lawyer
• Five Apps for the cyclist
• Five Apps for movie nuts
• Five Apps for the art lover
• Five Apps (Mac & iPhone) for pilots
• eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

Apple was able to tap to these groups of people because suddenly, apps started appearing that catered to these folks. The addition of a hundred apps per day in the App Store looks and sound chaotic, but majority of these useless apps become gems for some.

I'm sure Apple never predicted that this would happen (or did they?). All they did though is create good enough hardware with a stable enough OS, and development environment that any developer can use.


There's an iPhone app that lets me monitor and control my saltwater tank from anywhere. While it sounds funny, for me, it is one of the main reasons, I (and several other reefers) use the iPhone for. This is another example of a 'group.'

Some random words: community, specialty, connected, collective, emergence, smart mobs