Killer Appliaction

Identify and discuss “killer applications” that have driven commercial acceptance and usage of the Internet, from the early 1990’s to the present.You should also think also new digitally converged devices that may become available between now and 2010.

http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/2002/07-01-killer-app.htm
killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is a computer program that is so useful or desirable that it proves the value of some underlying technology, such as a gaming console, operating system, or piece of computer hardware.
Term originally coined to describe a computer program so good or so compelling to certain potential users that they buy the computer that the program runs on for no other reason than to be able to use that program. The term's meaning has since been extended to describe something, such as an idea or a product, which is extremely compelling.

killer app has to be exceptionally appealing, amazingly useful and totally simple. Consider the telephone—a handset and a dial, it could not be any simpler or more useful. Same thing applies for radio, TV, email and so on. If we look to the past, and beyond computer programs, we can find many examples of killer apps, namely electricity, telephones, automobiles, radio, TV and many more. In some ways, the computer itself is a killer app. A wildly popular TV show is also a killer app that runs on a killer app (the television). The Internet is a killer app and Email is a killer app that runs on the Internet.
Developers of new platforms now tend to put a lot of effort into discovering or creating the next killer "app" for their technology, in the hope that it will be the breakthrough needed to get the technology adopted. This has led to the burgeoning list of features on, for example, mobile telephones, such as text messaging, digital cameras, etc., though many maintain that the killer app for telephone technology is, and always has been, live peer-to-peer voice transmission.
Computer experts sometimes use the phrase with reference to other technologies to explain its significance to laypersons. In this context a killer application refers to a certain usage of that technology that makes the technology popular and successful. This usage of the term is especially prevalent when the technology existed before but did not take off before the introduction of the killer application. Examples for this


The most successful was VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet to run on a personal computer (the original Apple II microcomputer). VisiCalc succeeded as a killer application because it provided a unique tool for accountants to manipulate numbers easily without the need for programming skills. Another clear example is PageMaker, the first desktop publishing program, which was responsible for selling the Apple Macintosh to the design and publishing community.

The World Wide Web is the killer application for the Internet: by bringing visual excitement and ease of use to the Internet, it inspired people to buy new computers capable of supporting Web browsers.

IPTV – Internet protocol television allows consumers not only to customize their video programming experience, IPTV also empowers organizations of all types to directly and more inexpensively access new and/or targeted global audiences

Many analysts claim it is the matchmaking sites. Methods of finding a partner rank as one of the greatest successes of the Internet (of course, it was not designed to be). Matchmaking sites allow a person to post his or her personality traits, pictures, likes, dislikes, wishes and other personal information on a public site, all with a very simple interface. Then other people can search the advertisements looking for age ranges, location and other attributes. The pictures and the lengthy descriptions are of course much superior to newspaper advertisements. One of the larger matchmaking sites (www.match.com) has over three million current postings from every corner of the world, and about half a million new postings per month.

Once a person finds someone he or she thinks is interesting an Email dialog can start up. From Email, the relationship graduates up to IM (or Instant Messaging) and maybe even Internet based videoconferencing. Supposedly dating and marriage are quite common outcomes.


DNA computing.

Wireless/bluetooth ipod – share podcasts/music wirelessly.

E-learning : Education over the internet.