Goin' mobile

A column by Joe Wilcox in the Ziff Davis Enterprise covers Apple's whizbang iPhone:

Last week, Apple announced that the App Store had 300 million downloads and 10,000 applications. Three apps matter more. It's not so much what they do but what they mean. These three applications define App Store, supported by iPhone and iPod Touch, as an emerging mobile platform. Right now, Apple has created the leading contender to replace the PC as the platform people use most.
The apps:
Amazon Mobile
Google Mobile App
Obama `08
Number of applications does not a successful platform make. Volume is important, but the sticky quality of applications/services and the ability to make real money matter more.
All successful platforms share a few common traits:
They have at least one killer application people really want
They make available a breadth of useful applications
Development tools and APIs make it easy to create good applications
Third parties make lots of money
There is a fifth attribute not common to all successful platforms, but unique to some: They make customer engagement easier, a quality that some connected gaming devices/software and some Web 2.0 platforms imbue.
Many early App Store developers have made the mistake of presuming the money is to be made directly selling applications, an approach I regard as shortsighted. The Amazon, Google, and Obama apps are free, yet all three generate revenue in other ways (that's past tense for Obama `08; I provided no link as the app is no longer available). They're all very sticky, to the iPhone/iPod Touch platform, and to the supporting services. It's this stickiness, the broader revenue potential and customer engagement that set these three apps so much above the other 9,997 or so. They're the model for other developers to follow and show how App Store can succeed as a platform for Apple and its partners.
Amazon Mobile is simply the best application yet released through App Store, as viewed as a platform. The early Web was very informational, and like App Store, much of the content was free. But early dot-coms like Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo showed how Web companies could make money through e-commerce. Amazon has brought e-commerce to iPhone/iPod Touch, by capitalizing on platform attributes and capabilities. Through the app, Amazon customers can shop for products and manage their purchases.
New experimental feature "Amazon Remembers" lets consumers comparison shop. They snap pictures of items with the iPhone camera. If Amazon sells the products, customers receive information about the goods and how much they cost. Of course, the items can be purchased directly from the phone. No PC required.
Amazon Mobile is highly sticky to the online retailer and its services, and the app generates revenue when consumers buy goods. The mobile app is a comparison shoppers' delight. Applications like this define what Apple's mobile platform can and should be to succeed.
Google Mobile App is something good that recently got a whole lot better. Like Amazon Mobile, Google's app is service sticky and generates revenue directly from customer interaction rather than by selling a mobile application directly to them. Google Mobile App was good because of the way it uses the searcher's location as starting point for finding movie theaters, restaurants, and other local businesses. It's the new voice search feature that makes Google's goody a killer mobile app that people will frequently use.
Google's worldwide mobile search share is 60 percent, according to ComScore. But only a few percent of mobile users search from their cell phones. It's a big number off of a small base. Voice search taps the app into Google's broader search service, so the stickiness isn't just to iPhone/iPod Touch. Like Amazon, Google has meshed its services strengths to those on Apple's mobile platform.
Obama `08 is a fascinating case study in customer engagement. "Customers?" you ask. Yes, Obama supporters and new potential voters were the campaign's customers. Like the Amazon and Google apps, Obama `08 generated cash, as in donations. From a Donate button, potential contributors dialed the Obama for America donation hotline. The application also provided tasks for people to call friends in battleground states, to get involved with the campaign, and to participate in local campaign events.
Amazon Mobile, Google Mobile App, and Obama `08 share several attributes in common:
They're free to download.
They still make money for the application developers.
They mesh attributes of Apple's mobile platform with their own services.
Applications are sticky—they provide a killer feature people will repeatedly use.
They actively engage customers (something all three apps could do better through social networking features/services or cross-integration with other services provided by the developers).

There are many fun and useful App Store applications, and I wanted to add many of them to this list. But they all miss something, typically revenue generation.
Facebook is good example. It's hard for me to diss the Facebook app, because it does so much of what it needs to so well. But App Store and Apple partners won't succeed on free applications. Somebody has to make money, and I don't see it coming from Facebook. That's actually a problem with Facebook's larger business model, but it manifests in the mobile application. Why isn't there at least a way to gift iTunes Music, with some revenue sharing for Facebook?
Last week Apple posted lists of top paid and free applications. People are willing to pay for games (sorry Nintendo and Sony) but use free apps for getting information or to socially connect and interact. Very few of these apps tap into broader services or e-commerce, and they're not sticky enough.
Apple's mobile platform success is not assured. I presume—and it's mostly guesswork—that Apple's mobile customer base is at least 20 million, when combining sales of iPhone and iPod Touch. But that's still a small percentage of total mobile devices. App Store needs more applications that make money for the developers and which stickiness extends to e-commerce or other services. If not, Google, Nokia or some other motivated vendor will create a mobile platform that does.

Rico says he sure as hell hasn't figured out how to make money off of mobile computing. Yet.