Mobile Apps WILL Alter Our Web Usage

I'm not an Apple fanboy/adopter by any means. I don't own a Mac (though I'm finally starting to get the urge), nor an iPhone, and I didn't even own an iPod until a couple Christmases ago. I have to give Apple props though because they can make their products look so freaking cool that you feel like you're missing out on something if you don't own them. I keep seeing the commercials with iPhone apps and couldn't help but wonder if these apps will change the way we use the web. I think that the answer is emphatically yes. We've already discussed in class how blogging may eventually become obsolete as we move more towards mini-blog content such as Twitter. I would also venture to suggest that cell phones will be replaced by mobile devices. As more and more devices pop up such as the iPhone, the Google phone, and the heavily anticipated BlackBerry Storm, it seems as though the future will be dominated by Internet-ready mobile devices with touch screens. Even without flying cars it finally it feels as though we have some of the cool stuff the Jetson's have to play with in their futuristic space world.

I think one of the coolest apps I've seen in an iPhone commercial is Urbanspoon, the one that helps you find a local place to eat using criteria such as type of food, price range and neighborhood. My friends would vouch for me on this one because making choices on where to eat off-campus is one of the most perplexing decisions a college student faces. Check it out:


So yeah, I give Apple props because they're wearing me down and as soon as I escape from the plight of being a broke college student, I will probably buy a lot more of the cool stuff that they have to offer. I know that at the very least the use of mobile apps will become mainstream as people no longer have the option of buying a regular phone. Think about it, remember when it was cool to have a camera phone because it wasn't a standard feature? You'd be hard pressed to find one without a camera these days and I think the trend will continue with mobile devices as they become more of a commonplace in society.

Update: Why oh why must the people of Apple torment me so? Why must they brainwash me into wanting a phone that I don't need by dangling cool features in my face? As I was publishing this post (which leads me to believe Steve Jobs is spying on me), I saw another commerical for another cool iPhone app. This one which is even cooler than Urbanspoon is called Shazam. For music lovers this should be quite a treat...



This really is brilliant marketing though... "That's the iPhone. Solving life's dilemmas--one app at a time."

H-A-B-B-O Spells Success for Finnish Company

In 2000 the Helsinki based Sulake Corporation launched Habbo Hotel (think Second Life for young adults). Eight short years later, Habbo has become "the world's largest online community for teens." I'm not sure how many competitors there are in the market for virtual teen communities, but this past June Sulake issued a press release announcing their 100 millionth registered user. Obviously gaining such a large a public of impressionable teens has elevated Sulake to the status of a lucrative gateway for companies such as Disney, Viacom, and World Wrestling Entertainment to reach out to potential customers (or at least the parents of potential customers). Suluke has become rather skilled at pushing advertising partners during special contests and events such at the current High School Musical 2 Dance Competition. For the current contest, teens can enter to win Disney's High School Musical 2 on DVD, and even if they don't win (or enter the contest at all for that matter) they can still get free promotional materials and generate buzz for the upcoming release. In addition Sulake often has celebrities come "visit" the hotel to promote their projects and appeal to the cool factor which Habbo would otherwise lack (and arguably still does even with a special guest visit from Dylan and Cole Sprouse).



The concept of Habbo Hotel is very simple. Simply put, it a web client that gives users access to a series of chat rooms navigated by using customizable avatars. You can explore various "public rooms," many of which have large billboards directly linking to partner sites. In addition, you can purchase credits (which equate to twenty cents each but can only be bought in bulk) to further customize your avatar or furnish your own personal room with pixelated furniture ranging in price from one credit to twenty five credits. The "rooms" are just an artifice for the numerous advertisements and promotions that teens are bombarded with whenever they enter Habbo Hotel and I'm quite sure that most of them are oblivious to the fact that Habbo is structured in such a way that Sulake either makes money from advertising or by selling proprietary credits. There are free mini-games that you can play on the site, but at the end of the day, Habbo seems a lot less about games and more about making money.

Sulake has started to capitalize on its immensely popular marketing tool by incorporating Web 2.0 elements such as tags, server-side interest groups, and even fully-customizable profiles (MySpace for your avatar). The marketing team at Sulake is definitely adapting their image to appeal to the Web 2.0 generation. In February, Sulake inked a deal with the William Morris Agency in order to increase brand awareness in the United States by creating more cross-marketing promotional opportunities. I'm not going get into whether or not it is ethical for Sulake to market their products or partner products so aggressively towards children, however, I found it interesting how advertising and marketing potential have changed Habbo over the years. The main page once featured no advertising at all, but by heading over to the Internet Archive you can see how Habbo's increased popularity has lead to a significant increase in the amount of advertising. This trend of increased advertising is a commonplace when websites become popular, however, I doubt the increased number of ads has much to do with Sulake's server fees.