In what must rank as one of the copyrighting oversights of our the century so far, its originators’ failed to tether the word ‘app’ to its intended punning association with the Apple brand, and hence it now means simply – and not unreasonably – a small application, typically one that runs on a mobile device.
Apps abound prolifically across a truly plethoric raft of platforms. One of the latest and surely most exciting is a new price comparison app launched by monkeysupermarket.com, which brings users the ability – with just a few clicks – to compare and purchase car, home and travel insurance on the bus (network connection permitting), on a windswept hillside (ditto), or even on the loo.
Monkeysupermeerkat’s insurance expert Julie Kingfisher claims the app launch is a “real leap forward” which will come as a relief to those weary of feigned or merely imagined leaps forward. “We know,” the expert revealed, “that a vast amount of people in the UK now own a smart phone,” adding that she hoped “the industry will soon follow our lead and optimise their sites to support those who want to buy their car cover while they’re on the move.”
It seems her wish may soon be coming true, as Confusing.com have felt obliged to rush out a press release this week warning that it too is working (with cutting-edge app specialists CDL) on a smart phone app that will allow people to buy their car insurance cover while they’re on the move. In reporting this announcement, Insurance Times opined that if such apps take off they could “rake in millions in extra premium.”
Which is probably true. Bankstone News certainly wasn’t planning on purchasing motor insurance until we found out we could do it on our iPhone whilst weeping drunkenly into a lonely late night Meat Phall in the near-deserted Taste of Gandhi after yet another disastrous assignation arranged through the Someone Special online dating service.
There’s certainly no denying the massive convenience gains to be had from price comparing on a screen a mere fraction the size of your standard computer monitor and entering data via Apple’s acclaimed ‘big fingers, small keys’ entry system. Why stay in one place to make major financial decisions when you can sweep ever onwards like some smoothly gliding human basking shark?
The truly genius thing about price comparison apps, of course, is that once the punters have downloaded your free app from the Apple App Store, they are unlikely to bother downloading somebody else’s, so you’ve got them for life. With ‘first mover advantage’ so clear, why stop at making your app free? Why not pay people to download it. Too crass? How about free vouchers for curry, thermal tights, gentlemen’s magazines or something practical like that?
Just a thought… but, if you’re reading this, monkeysupermeerkat people, Bankstone News is available for consultancy work at very reasonable rates.
No responses yet