There's an App for That

We live in a world of Apps. There are Apps for almost everything. With the amount of Apps there are out there, I'm surprised there isn't an App that helps you dress yourself. Think about it: you'd add in all your clothes and then mix together outfits based on the database of clothing. Just a thought. Someone is probably working on that right now.

The top grossing Apps at this current moment on the App Store are "Bad Piggies HD" in the paid charts, and in the free charts it is "LostWinds." Both are games. "Bad Piggies HD" costs $2.99. My question is how many people pay for Apps that they never use? Personally, I have a rule that I never pay over $0.99 for an App because I frequently change them up. I find myself getting bored of Apps very quickly and constantly delete them and get new ones. It's a vicious circle, because there are only a few Apps that I can count on one hand that I use on a frequent basis. I tend to get really excited when I see a really cool App, and then download it and forget about it. I did this with UrbanSpoon. I travel often, and I thought it would be cool to have an App like that. I have not used it once.

Are Apps making us lazy, though? There are a lot of Apps that save the user from having to tap a few extra times to go on the Internet. For example, I came across a Google Search App that you can tap open, then search for what you want. It connects right to the Internet and searches for what you typed in. To open the Safari browser, then go to Google, and then type in your search would be an extra 2 taps. Now, is it really that much more convenient to tap the App than to simply go on the website? There are other Apps like this, such as Kijiji or Expedia, which are simply versions of the websites. In reality the websites probably have more information on them in the first place. I have a 16GB iPad, which I am finding has limited space depending on the Apps that I download. So, for me, it's a waste of memory space to have an App that saves me 2 finger movements. Does anyone else see the logic here?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not a hypocrite- I do use many Apps frequently and love them. Some Apps I love are from TV channels, such as CTV or Global, that have the most recent episodes of their shows. Instead of downloading them illegally, or streaming them online, all I have to do is tap the video and it plays that episode. With commercials, mind you. However, it is very convenient for someone who does watch a lot of these shows. There are some other really cool Apps, such as GarageBand which actually lets me plug my guitar into the iPad (through my own connecting cord) and it will record what I am playing. Then, I can put that recording into a song and add other instruments to it. As a musician, this is something I absolutely love and I am guilty of paying money for that App.

So in short, maybe Apps are going too far. What do you think?

UPDATE: I just watched an episode of the Simpsons, and in it Mr. Burns sends a lawyer down his trap door in his office. He then holds up an iPad and says, "this trap door App works like a charm!" As the Simpsons is known to satire popular culture, this is a perfect example of what I am getting at.