Software, Interrupted

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May 1, 2009 1:42 PM PDT

iPhone's killer app: E-books?

by Dave Rosenberg
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O'Reilly's Ben Lorica took a look (slides below) at the developers behind the most successful applications on the iPhone and found that electronic books may be the killer app, simply because there is a such of wealth of offerings.

According to ReadWriteWeb, Apple's App Store features about 40,000 different apps. Based on recent data, game developers have on average, 2.3 apps in the store while typical e-book vendors have 18 apps, which obviously stacks the odds in their favor.

What's interesting about this is that this news suggests that the iPhone really is a new breed of mini-computer in that people are using it for passive activities such as reading as well games and for interactive tasks such as e-mail.

Books are also currently the fastest growing category in the App Store up 285 percent in the last three months.

For the record, I use a Blackberry Curve as my main device and own an iPod Touch.

Follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom

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About Software, Interrupted

In "Software, Interrupted," Dave Rosenberg discusses disruption in the software market, as well as the products and services that keep business technology norms in perpetual flux.

With nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience spanning from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs, Dave co-founded open-source software company MuleSource and now serves as general manager of Hardy Way. He also happens to be a U.S. patent holder and a workaholic. Technology is his best friend and mortal enemy.

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