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Freeband – The Ambient Life from The QBF on Vimeo.

I am always shocked when I read about the money that’s still being made by applications for the iPhone.  But people are still doing very well.  Freeserve a company based in Brooklyn has made $181,000 from one game application in just one month.  The money is nice – but something much more interesting is happening here.

Your company or service or brand or all three can be sitting in people’s pockets and accessible and talking with them around the clock.  But we also must understand why a consumer would want this?  When will they get worn with the process of searching through dozens of screens trying to locate the application they are looking for?

While the NYT compares this to what AOL did in the early 1990’s I would say it’s more like what prodigy did before them – give companies a new way to communicate with their consumer.  The only problem is – consumers are being communicated with in so many places today that I think the messages are lost.  And with millions of applications available -how can a brand provide a digital service that isn’t already offered by hundreds of competing applications? Further – mobility is still missing a search solution that can intuitively connect consumers with the right application at the right time without them asking for it… but I’d guess services like this aren’t that far away.

By next year the number of applications available will triple.  I’d also guess that palm and black berry will have steadied their footing.  Smart hand held devices have changed technology.  Now how will we change our messages, services, and brands so they don’t become commodities in the clutter?