App x 250,000 = Too Much

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm still turning to my laptop if I want to get information from Wikipedia, look up a word on Dictionary.com, or shop on eBay.

I have recently deleted my Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, and eBay apps from my Blackberry. Yes, it may have to do with the memory getting low, etc., but I am determined to erase pointless apps from my life.

Are you?

On August 28, Fortune.CNN.com published a strictly informational article on the App store reaching 250,000 apps after being open for a little over two years. As always with the online space, I wonder "is it too much?" How much "stuff" to we truly need to do with our phones?

It reminds me of college friends who have announced, "My phone only makes calls and texts and that is all I need it to do" then being forced into buying a data plan when they need a new phone. They just don't want it. And I understand.

If an app on my phone is going to hinder my ability to make calls, send texts, and/or receive email, then I don't need it. I truly don't. I am limiting my app craze to my email service, a GPS, the weather, and an RSS feed app (along with Facebook and Twitter of course).

And I really think those are enough.

iPhone appears in other brand's TV commercials

I have been noticing recently a trend in TV commercials which relates to my new poll question.

I was watching TV for a bit, and saw in three different commercials how the iPhone was also advertised, as well as the main product being shown.

Pizza Hut commercials air all the time, and at the end there is a picture of an iPhone with the Pizza Hut logo on the screen. As mentioned previously, the iPhone is well-known and loved for its many application abilities. The Pizza Hut application for the iPhone allows you to order pizza on the go. Some may think this is ironic, since you can always just call the nearest Pizza Hut, but this "app" features a game to play while you wait and alerts, as in flying pizza toppings, arise if you order too many toppings. Pizza Hut's rival, Dominoes simply allows iPhone users to go on their Webpage and order as if from a computer.

John Rivera's blog further discusses the marketing trends Pizza Hut and Dominoes are branching out to, and includes many different companies now turning to the iPhone app marketing tool, such as the Starbucks app which now allows customers to "build" their favorite drink and show it to the employee when they get to the counter instead of speaking.

Another one I couldn't believe was a Miller Lite commercial where a man at a table holds up his iPhone with the app "Beer Time" shown and how many beers they need at their table. This app deals with the struggle people have of getting beer refills in a crowded bar. As a waitress, I don't think this would make me very happy, but the fact that there is an app for it is almost ridiculous. Read about this app here.

I'm not sure what app they will think of next, of course. But, I would like to know how our culture will adapt to this new form of communication. We simply show the worker our iPhone and, without a word, get what we want? This seems bizarre to me.