Free iPhone apps - your days are numbered

Here's a screen shot of my iPhone, page 3 of 4.  This screen has 15 apps on it.  No, my math isn't fuzzy . . . one of those icons is a shortcut to thedigitallifestyle.tv of course.

There have been many posts out there that talk about the mass downloading of Apps and then the lack of usage there after.  I took a look at my iPhone to see if I fell into this bucket and here's what I found.

As previously mentioned I have 15 Apps on this screen.  Of those 15 Apps I actively use 4 (from top to bottom):  Facebook, PhoneFlix, BK Run Lite [this is a good app for bathroom time (too much?) and Twitterrific.

Every other app on this screen I've used at one point but can't say I'm part of their active user base.  Why then can I not bring myself to get rid of these apps??  After all, I 'never' use them.  They're taking up space on my iPhone and cause me to flip through screens to get to the apps I really use (perhaps this is a personal problem . . . it's never occured to me to move apps to the front I use and apps to be back I don't . . . add it to the to-do list.).

Now here's the question we should all be asking . . . WHY DOES THIS MATTER.  For paid applications it doesn't, they're getting their revenue up front when you buy the app.  As long as people keep buying the app they're in good shape.  As long as the iPhone user base keeps buying iPhones, they're in good shape.

Where this does matter is for free app makers.  Most free apps these days have advertising on them to generate revenue.  They of course want you to download their free app so they can show impressive dowload numbers to would be advertisers, but they also need to show clickthrough and impressions so these advertisers continue to lineup and dish out for prime placement.  If apps aren't being used after their initial download (I'll let you do a simple search to see all the posts reporting this) then the ads aren't being seen and advertisers are pissing their money away.

What then is the solution?  Are we going to eventually have an app store of primarily pay applications?  I think eventually, yes.  The store is saturated with apps all doing the same thing.  I think users will begin to dictate which apps are best and run the others out of the store.  Do we really need 6 apps (likely an understatement) that all give me remote access to my NetFlix?  No.  I suggest you all start using the apps you feel strongly about . . . if you don't they might not be there any more.

Let us know your favorite apps in the comments section.