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When they finally get these to work I think they are are going to be very popular.
You can just imagine  the ‘Uth’  watching their favourite Rap videos on the back of the bus shelter

Not quite working to their full potential, but that’s probably only a cost issue currently.
Check out little demo at CES here

Just read an excellent piece by John Borthwick which starts by talking about disruption innovation and then introduces  the idea of the ‘Notificator’ as a potential ‘Google slayer’. I buy much of what Borthwick has to say, but more than this – I actually believe we’re observing the seeds of a structural shift  and I’m going to try and explain why.  Before I launch in to this, I would add that these thoughts are only partially formed, so this is work in progress….

One of my favourite biz books is The Clue Train Manifesto. It was from here,  nearly 10years ago that I first came across the idea that markets were conversations – and this thought  changed my thinking towards everything digital.
The Internet is brilliant for many things but it’s single most important aspect is it’s connectivity.
Email was (and still is to a degree) the killer app,  as websites began to pop up it was the connectivity between these that gave rise to Google and the ability for us to read/browsing all the amazing content which was being made available (at the time mainly  by ‘professionals’). As standards began to establish and network speeds increased we began to witness the rise of  self-publishing and expression through blogs and UGC sites and then more recently social-networking sites. Stripping away what a social networking site is and you’ll find that they are little more than self published web content with integrated social connection relationships i.e. you can see what your friends have written/uploaded/shared etc..
Fast forward a little further and one of the newest behaviours is the ‘Social/ Status Update’ – the what are you up to right now and self publishing this event to a network. This represents another step closer in terms of connectivity – you can now,  in near real time know my thoughts and  conversations I’m engaged in yet you are thousands of miles away or someone I met once 5 years ago. Add to this the fact that you are able to easily and cheaply aggregate the collective thoughts of millions and millions of people then you are getting very close to the market as conversations. Couple with this that at long last accessing the Internet on a mobile device is actually becoming a reality then you have the making of a seismic shift in behaviour- the web feels like it’s moving from this massive digital library of stuff we all used to live on via our PCs to being alive – this has significant ramifications. New social collisions can occur and time/social connection become the new context.

To be continued…

Notes from my rummaging in to how the app store works:
99 per cent of apps crash n burn
Media options to accelerate App take up Tap Tap used ; Adwords ; MacWorld ; Daring Fireball’s syndicated feed (RSS) - according to the site ” the only way to promote your product or service specifically to Daring Fireball’s audience of Mac nerds, designers, nitpickers, perfectionists, and connoisseurs of fine sarcasm” $2.5K, 100K users. Note this gets booked up in advance so worth planning for this.

Tips & Tactics
> Icon – immediately recognizable e.g. CND sign, no entry likely to catch the eye due to familiarity.App description – you gotta convince someone they need the ap
> Promo of the app on sites etc..- increasing  recognition  for the App icon is  important – as you have such limited real estate in the store and on the device screen -  I Like the way the company that acquired Where To app advertiser below.

> Release / Submission Date – new page in the app store uses the Release Date of an app. If you don’t set the Release Date, they use the submission date. If it takes 3 weeks to submit an app, you’re 3 weeks old on day 1,  which means you’re many pages back on the New apps section. In theory if you set a Release Date in the future (guessing at  submission delay), then when they live your app, it will truly be New that day and stands a chance of being displayed in the New section for  a while.

Downloads/Rankings/ Behaviours
> Featured App – usually benefit for about 1 week
> Weekend sales are a lot bigger than weekday sales, by about 30-40%, if you’re in a list. Bang2D.com Nov 08 – US No. 50 Paid App sells 400-500 downloads/day. Bang2D.com

External Promotion of  You App
> Use affiliate code link so you get a kick back commission if someone selects your app and then goes on to buy other apps/music

Links/ Further References

http://www.taptaptap.com/blog/the-easy-way-to-get-into-the-iphone-app-game-buy-a-proven-app/
http://bang2d.com/?p=46

http://www.losingfight.com/blog/2008/11/07/can-you-make-a-living-off-an-iphone-app/