A
killer application (commonly shortened to
killer app), in the jargon of computer programmers and video gamers, has been used to refer to any
computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as
computer hardware like a
gaming console,
operating system or other
software. A killer app can substantially increase sales of the platform on which it runs.
Examples
VisiCalc, the earliest generally agreed example of a killer application.
One of the first examples of a killer application is generally agreed to be the
VisiCalc spreadsheet on the
Apple II platform.
The machine was purchased in the thousands by finance workers (in particular,
bond traders) on the strength of this program.
"Killer Applications" (overview), Partha Dasgupta,
Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, May 2002, webpage:
.The next example is another spreadsheet,
Lotus 1-2-3. Sales of
IBM's
PC had been slow until 1-2-3 was made public, and then increased rapidly a few months after
Lotus 1-2-3's initial release.
A killer app can provide an important
niche market for a non-mainstream platform.
Aldus PageMaker and
Adobe PostScript gave the
graphic design and
desktop publishing niche to the
Apple Macintosh in the late 1980s, a niche it retains to this day, despite the fact that
PCs running
Windows or
Linux have been capable of running versions of some of the same applications since the early 1990s.
Software developers of new platforms now tend to focus considerable effort and funds into discovering or creating the next "killer app" for a given technology, as platforms (such as
Windows 1.0) often fail for lack of one.
Calendar and Contact organization was the killer application behind the first
PDAs on the market, but later on
GPS was introduced on these platforms, compelling many users to buy PDA devices (and GPS receivers) primarily for car navigation. Eventually, purpose-built devices became available on the market, based on a version of
Windows Mobile without including such PDA software.
Trends
There have been a number of new uses of the term. For instance, the usefulness of
e-mail drew many people to use
computer networks. The
Mosaic GUI web browser is generally credited with the popularization of the
World Wide Web, and hence the
Internet, following the days that Internet access was a line-oriented, scrolling dialog.
The term has also been applied to
computer and video games that cause consumers to buy a particular
video game console or gaming hardware. An example of a killer application is
Star Raiders, released in 1979 on cartridge for the
Atari 8-bit computer. Another "killer app",
Space Invaders, was released in 1980 and quadrupled sales of then three year old
Atari 2600 platform. The VCS became a sell-out over Christmas. The
Game Boy saw
Tetris, and the
Nintendo 64 saw much success with the releases of
GoldenEye 007,
Super Mario 64 and
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Wii Sports, a free compilation 5-in-1 sports title bundled alongside every
Wii console is also a killer app that helped to sell the console outside Japan, demonstrate the motion control functions of its innovative controller and break sales records since the console's debut. The
Halo series for the
Xbox is also considered a "killer app."
Killer app has also been used for products that do not lead to sales of platforms or analogous bases.
Twitter was called a killer app for users already on the Internet while
The Settlers of Catan was described as the killer app of designer board games.
Killer applications and wireless networks
Portable devices are incorporated with more and more functionalities, such as photo/video camera, video phone, SMS, PDA, music player, video player, Bluetooth and Wireless LAN. Communication Networks for cell phones evolve around the need for increased bandwidth and better support for internet connections. The killer application for these platforms has to be compelling enough that users crave ownership of the latest devices and subscribe to these services, thus driving the future development of mobile networks and Internet.
Examples of current for-profit services provided by network operators:
- News and Weather SMS Subscription services
- Email, Skype, Live! Messenger (SMS forwarding).
- Electronic Banking and Money Management
- Movie Showtimes and Ticketing
- In Europe and Japan, cellular subscribers can "call" vending machines to purchase something and have the item billed to their accounts.
Selected applications for computer systems
See also
