| Let me ask you something. How many applications | | | | (150,000 plus at the time of this writing). If you use |
| do you have installed on your desktop that you | | | | an iPhone, there's a good chance you have quite a |
| actually use on a regular basis? | | | | few iPhone apps installed that you use on a regular |
| Let's see. I'm on a Windows 7 notebook, so I have | | | | basis. |
| Microsoft Office, Pidgin (for all of my instant | | | | Why? Because the majority of iPhone apps are |
| messaging), Adobe Photoshop, Skype, PSpad, FileZilla | | | | designed to do one thing, and do that one thing very |
| and iTunes (only because I have an iPhone). | | | | well. For example, the iPhone texting application, it |
| If Google Docs worked better, I would eliminate | | | | gives you the ability to send and receive text |
| Microsoft Office from my desktop and from my life. | | | | messages in a very simple and straightforward way. |
| So, I have seven apps installed that I've actually used | | | | The iPhone Facebook app gives you the ability to |
| in the last three months. For most people, this list is | | | | quickly view the status of your friends and update |
| probably even smaller. | | | | your status. You can even snap photos and instantly |
| I would use fewer desktop apps if I could. Desktop | | | | upload them. |
| apps are problematic for a number of reasons. First, | | | | There are iPhone apps for setting alarms, getting the |
| they save data to my local machine, which I can | | | | current weather, listening to Pandora, Slacker. Apps |
| eventually lose (hard drive crashes, misplacement, | | | | for monitoring eBay, booking a hotel room, checking |
| etc). | | | | airline ticket prices. I find myself using the iPhone |
| Second, this makes me dependent on a physical | | | | apps more than I use my PC and a web browser. |
| device, which I don't like at all. I prefer to have all of | | | | Why? It's the simplicity of these applications. They |
| my information freely available wherever I may be. | | | | typically don't suffer from "feature creep". |
| Third, over the years desktop apps have suffered | | | | Is my viewpoint is slanted, because I work on a |
| from what is commonly referred to as "feature | | | | Windows PC instead of a Mac? I'm not sure. Most |
| creep". For example, Microsoft Word now contains | | | | likely not. I will bet that "feature creep" eventually |
| hundreds of features that people just don't use, | | | | finds its way into popular iPhone applications as well. |
| making it a more complex product overall. | | | | As a software architect or designer, it's a natural |
| According to Jensen Harris, Group Program Manager | | | | process to want to continue to add more features |
| of the Microsoft Office User Experience Team | | | | to your product. Competitors are adding more |
| published a list of the most used features in | | | | features and as a software designer, you must |
| Microsoft Word. | | | | "keep up". I've done it and I see startups doing it |
| | | | now with their iPhone efforts. |
| 1. Paste (11%) | | | | This process devalues applications. We need to strive |
| 2. Save (5.5%) | | | | to simplify applications and stop adding more features |
| 3. Copy | | | | for the sake of adding features, attempting to please |
| 4. Undo | | | | a few to the detriment of the many. |
| 5. Bold | | | | Instead, if you're a software developer, architect, |
| According to the study, these five commands | | | | creator, etc., follow in the footsteps of the most |
| account for 32% of all of the command usage in | | | | recent simplified engineering successes. Successes |
| Microsoft Word 2003. | | | | such as Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp and the like. |
| The explosion in iPhone applications can't be ignored | | | | Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. |