One of the Next Killer Apps - Spare Time

Every once in a while I like to post about a topic that's more thoughts than links or references.

While I've been tinkering with ideas over the past year for iPhone apps, it seems like the most successful types do one of two things:  help us make things easier ( allowing the technology to speed up whatever task we need to do, or make it more portable ) or give us a way to spend our time ( games, etc ).

A lot of people would say that two things they can't do without are Google and Facebook.  Google helps us save time.  Lots of time.  Finding an answer with Google to our question takes maybe a minute or two, going to the library to look it takes who knows how much time.  It depends how hard a question it is.  Not all questions can be answered quickly (or, effectively at all at a library, outside of the Internet terminal there!)  So Google saves us time.

Facebook saves me time in a way.  It lets me communicate with hundreds of friends instead of telling them something one-to-one.  New job?  Post it.  Fifteen seconds.  Is it as personal?  No.  Should telling someone I got a job be personal?  No.  It's something that benefits me, but doesn't particularly drive a conversation.

Facebook also wastes time.  Lots and lots of time.  Lots and lots and lots of time.  But that's because it fulfills the second major role:  It gives us something to do with our time.  A lot of the people who spend a lot of time on Facebook are in the applications section, NOT the status update or message section.  They go on Facebook to be entertained.  People who don't use apps spend significantly less time on Facebook than those who do use apps.  Same with an iPhone.  The people who use just productivity apps on average surely use their iPhone fewer minutes per day than those who use their iPhone for entertainment.  This isn't new.  People who watch television for entertainment on average would watch it more than those who watch it merely for news.  People who read a newspaper for entertainment (say, the sports and lifestyle section) spend more time with a newspaper than those who merely read it for news alone (local, national, global).  Okay, yes, there are no statistics to back up this paragraph, but I would think for most of you it's agreeable and understandable.

The top 7 sites worldwide (ranked by Alexa) all fulfill one or both of these principles. All but one are commercially supported ( Wikipedia does not have ads, which is what makes it "valid" as a resource in my opinion ).  But what makes the iPhone great is that it can fulfill the little segments in our life that could be done just a little bit more easily, therefore increasing our spare time, to spend doing things of our choice (usually with the same technology that we use to create the spare time).  We use the same device to create time and spend time.

It's not to say that people don't like real things, like going to the movies, museums, going to rock concerts.  It's just, may I say, more quality to do them through virtual technology.  A parent can work while a child plays a game ( as the number of computers increase, which is driven by largely by the netbook market, meaning households have more than one ).  We can pull Netflix on our laptop or television instantly while our children do homework.  Technology keeps families spending time together, but we more efficiently do tasks separately, increasing our enjoyment of the spare time.

Do I think Facebook is a good use of spare time?  Personally, no.  Some people may think it is.  I think there's a a huge market for the next segment of killer apps.  Things that make spare time even more available.  Do I think it's going to be a web service?  No.  I think it's going to be a mobile app.  I think it's first iteration is going to be on iPhone, then spread to other platforms like Android afterwards.

Would you pay 99 cents a month for an ad-free, clutter-free Facebook?  I would.  That's why I think the iPhone is going to create the next series of killer apps.  People are rewarded for innovation in a way never really seen before.  There's an app for that is more than a marketing line.  It's the realization of the next big thing.