Whitney Gulden
Reporter
Let’s be serious, at one point in time all of us have pitched a fit over losing a game of Cuberunner, Scoops, Billiards, or Wordle and the list only goes on and on. Looking around in the library there are at least three students on iPhones playing a game.
Since the first iPhone was released on June 29th, 2007 the world has been forever changed by its applications, or “apps” as they’ve been nicknamed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Apple claims to have an application for everything. With the November 4th announcement on the Apple homepage that 100,000 apps are now available to both iPhones and iPod Touches, it has a solid case. At the end of last June, Apple had a massive publicity campaign named, “Thanks a Billion” surrounding the download of the one-billionth app. With the vast number of aaps and downloads, what are some of people’s favorites?
Sophomore Megan Paul‘s favorite app “For those moments of musical confusion” is Shazam. Sophomore Alexis Najarian disagreed, saying, “the best app is Parking Lot.”
By being the catalyst of the app craze, Apple is often seen as cutting edge. “Apple is a innovative company. When the first iPhone came out, the world was wowed. Now, Apple continues to stay ahead of the curve with new apps and ideas.” Mr. Dave Alban, a Mac Genius from the Stamford Mall Apple store said.
When asked to sum up iPhone applications in three words, Mr. Alban smiled and said, “Really, really fun. There’s an app for everything, from sports to books to apps for doctors that are saving lives today.”
Although applications are often seen as more for fun many people are using them for more meaningful purposes in their lives. For instance, the May issue of USA Today featured a story on autistic seven-year-old JW Clark who was unable to communicate effectively with anyone until his parents bought a text to speech iPhone app. With this app, JW can now communicate with his parents, making a huge difference in his learning development.
“[The craze] is impossible to stay on top of. There are a couple apps I’m really excited about: Snap’n Tell and Shazam. As a librarian who spends oodles of time in bookstores looking at books for high schoolers, Snap’n Tell is great because you just snap a picture of a book and the app gives you the information right there” Library Media Specialist Michelle Luhtala said. “I think the craze is also great because I read an article in the New York Times about people who were laid off and are now making apps. It’s economic support for creative programmers.”
The game Wooden Labyrinth is based on the old children’s toy where a marble rolls around in an enclosed wooden maze to get to a certain point without falling into any traps. This game, and many others such as Pacman, Monopoly, and even bowling, have bridged the gap from the real world to the iPhone app universe. This being in addition to the thousands of original apps.
“I have to laugh,” Ms. Luhtala said. “A student came up to me once playing a game on an iPhone, and it was the same game I had been playing as a kid thirty years ago. Some things are the same as they always are.”
As a result of their popularity, iPhone app blogs have become rampant on the internet, reviewing and rating thousands of applications. These sites include appsafari.com, iPhoneapps.org, and iPhoneapplicationlist.com; all run by non-Apple associated sites.
Clearly, apps are quickly becoming a part of our modern day lifestyle. They can express your interests and add a new level of personalization to your cell phone while making day-to-day living easier and fun.
GOOD JOB WHITNEY!!!