Mobile Applications Promise More Content-on-the-Go

Journalist Dan Woolley of Colorado Springs, Colo., was walking across the lobby of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, when the earthquake occurred. The collapse of the hotel left him trapped under layers of rubble and bleeding from wounds on his head and leg.

Fortunately for him, he had an app for that.

Woolley told CNN, “I had an app that had pre-downloaded all this information about treating wounds. So I looked up excessive bleeding and I looked up compound fracture.”

Using information from the app on his iPhone – “Pocket First Aid & CPR” from Jive Media – Woolley treated his own injuries and survived over 60 hours until rescued. Probably the best $3.99 impulse purchase he ever made.

Woolley is not alone in buying apps. Seventy-five million-plus users of iPhone and iTouch devices have made more than 3 billion downloads of applications in the last 18 months from Apple’s “App Store.” The iTunes Store, which includes the App Store, has over 125 million user’s credit cards on file. In the December ending quarter over 50 million people visited the 284 Apple retail stores. Apple’s stock price has moved from $78 a year ago to more than $192 as of January 29.

In the recent announcement for the iPad, Apple also announced the iBookstore. Publishing partnerships include Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Penguin, Harper Collins, The New York Times and McGraw-Hill.

Both Google and RIM, makers of the BlackBerry, are hurriedly playing catch-up in the applications store arena. While the functionality of the phone devices from many vendors can seem to be very similar, Apple has created a huge competitive advantage with the iTunes Store and App Store.

What’s really going on here? As a business owner or leader, why should any of this matter to you?

As Bob Dylan once said, “the order is rapidly fading.” Businesses are being challenged and, in some cases, severely threatened by technology. Newspapers, magazines, record companies, television networks, and even bookstores are struggling to find new business models. Strangely enough, while “old media” is dying, people’s thirst for information and entertainment seems to be growing at an insatiable rate of speed. The concept of “content is king” is truer today than ever.

The memory of “life before computers” has taken the place of the memory of “life before television.” Personal computers have been around for 30 years and the Internet a part of regular life for nearly 20. What was once thought a generational thing has become a normal part of most everyone’s life.

Today people turn first to the Internet to research companies, products and services when making buying decisions. More and more, buying decisions are made on-line rather than in stores.

The notion of being “on-line” has changed. No longer do you have to be at your computer at home or in the office to access business information, find entertainment, do research or make buying decisions. Mobility, or “mobile platforms” are rapidly changing how people want to find and receive “content.” Businesses that provide the most convenient path to the content people look for will be the winners.

Apple is achieving success by viewing themselves as a mobile products company. The mobile platforms – iPhones, iPods, iPads and laptops – all work seamlessly with the App Store, iTunes Store, specific applications and the Web browser to bring easy access to content. Apple’s definition of “products” includes access to content as well as hardware and software.

“Old media” companies with threatened business models have seen the Apple stores as a bridge to “new media” revenue models. Software developers, major corporations and content providers are seeing the mobile devices as replacements for standard desktops and laptops. Mobile workers and virtual offices are becoming more cost effective than brick and mortar offices.

Dan Woolley, with his survival book in his pocket rather than on a dusty shelf at his house, owes his life to the fact that he embraced the combination of mobility and content.

The changes going on are not neutral. They are either working for or against your business. Which is it?

Steve Hankins is CEO and co-founder of Accio.US, a technology company providing advisory and management services for small- to medium-sized businesses. He may be reached at [email protected].