Travel

iShareMyCar

Posted August 25, 2009 - 2:49pm by Marc Peter
iShareMyCar1Developer: Torsten Bitterlich
Category: Travel
Version: 1.0
Release Date: August 17, 2009
Size: 0.6 MB
Rating 10/10

Apple fans are as a whole pretty well informed people. It is impossible to be well informed and not see that we are making a huge negative impact on the earth and our atmosphere with the way we commute from one place to another. American culture has allowed the development of a transportation system that heartily encourages car use and at the same time discourages alternative transportation. While that massive problem can't be changed overnight, our USE of the car-centric system can be changed RIGHT NOW, TODAY, with just a few phone calls. I'm talking about car-pooling.

Postino

Posted August 12, 2009 - 3:41pm by Marc Peter
Postino1Developer: Anguria Lab
Category: Travel
Version: 1.0.4
Release Date: May 18, 2009
Size: 8.0 MB
Price: Free
Rating 10/10

Birdhouse

Apple's app revue process is a thing of mystery. So is its process of selecting which apps to feature in its television commercials. So are its featured musicians for promoting the iTunes Store for that matter, like why Jack Johnson over Ben Harper? Probably because Ben is outspokenly pro-weed, J.J. sings about Curious George, and Apple is cementing it's reputation as a G rated company as it moves deeper and deeper into the mixed media world.

I digress. When Apple chooses an app for use in its televised iPhone commercials it's providing literally millions of dollars in free advertising for the app and its developer, which is great, especially when that developer is a small time indie app producer. But that action also has it's down side- it drives consumers to that app and that app alone, even if there is a better one that does essentially the same thing. That developer is basically S.O.O.L., hundreds of thousands will flock to the competition instead of being intelligent consumers and doing some comparative shopping.

The recent travel focused "An App For That" ad is a great example of this uneven scale. It shows a postcard create/sending app that costs $0.99. Well, Postino does everything that app does, has a prettier interface, flows more smoothly through the create and send process, and is FREE instead of a buck. Why is the other app on TV? Apple gets 30% of every sale, and 30% of a free app is zilch.