In the latest mobileYouth trends briefing, Graham Brown of mobileYouth looks at the role of youth in the future of mobile application development.

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Curate'don’t'Innovate'
Mobile'Applications'in'the'Age'of'Discovery'
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In!this!trends!briefing,!Graham' Brown!of!mobileYouth!looks!at!the!rising!tide!
of!mobile!applications!and!asks!–!who'is'driving'innovation?!
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As! app! usage! continues! to! grow,! the! premium! on! innovative! differentiation! is!
higher! than! ever! but! where,! exactly,! should! the! industry! be! looking! for! this!
differentiator?!It!seems!that!we’re!following!our!bad!habits!of!investing!heavily!
in!topFdown!innovation.!It’s!the!same!process!that!gave!us!LBS,!MMS!and!mobile!
payments! back! in! the! early! 2000s! –! too! much,! too! early,! too! irrelevant.! App!
discovery! tools! are! the! latest! in! a! crop! of! topFdown! innovations! that! aim! to!
replicate! the! oldFfashioned! design! thinking! innovation! model;! i.e.! innovation! is!
the!product!of!genius.!
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I’d! like! to! explore! the! flipFside! of! the! coin.! App' innovation! won’t! come! from!
innovation! labs,! product! managers! or! IDEO! like! design! agencies! but! nameless!
youth'in'the'street.!They,!after!all,!gave!us!SMS.!They!gave!us!Facebook!and!the!
forerunners!of!iTunes.!They!even!showed!us!how!to!use!BBM!properly.!Shouldn’t!
we! be! looking! here! for! our! application! innovation?! Innovation! labs,! product!
managers!and!design!agencies!shouldn’t!be!trying!to!innovation,!they!need!to!be!
in!the!business'of'curation.!
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mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
http://www.mobileyouth.org!http://www.mobileyouthreport.com!
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Are'we'becoming'an'App'culture?'
App!usage!nearly!doubles!in!year!
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Mobile!app!usage!has!increased!91%!over!the!past!year,!web!usage!has!also!
increased!but!at!the!slower!rate!of!16%.!What!is!driving!the!uptake?!
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With'App'usage'reaching'record'levels,'the'premium'on'discovery'is'high'!
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In!this!article!on!GigaOm,!the!author!raises!some!key!concerns!about!the!recent!
spate!of!App!discovery!tools!being!developed!by!high!profile!names!like!Yahoo!!
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Many!developers!seem!to!be!banking!on!the!fact!that!users!are!willing!to!
turn!to!apps!to!find!other!apps.!A!recent!rash!of!app!discovery!tools!
available!for!iOS!devices!(including!one!out!of!left!field!from!Yahoo)!
definitely!identifies!a!problem,!but!I’m!not!sure!it!provides!any!real!
lasting!solutions.!
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mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
http://www.mobileyouth.org!http://www.mobileyouthreport.com!
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3. !
Are'youth'the'missing'link'in'Discovery?'
Youth'key'to'influence'both'in'peer'groups'and'with'adults'
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Have!we!bet!the!bank!on!centralized!discovery,!innovation!and!education!of!
applications!when!all!along!the!answer!was!right!there!under!our!noses?!What!
role!do!youth!play!in!the!Age!of!Discovery?!
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Recent!industry!data!shows!30%!of!adult!apps!downloaded!to!their!phones!were!
actually!instigated!by!their!children.!So!youth!may!be!a!Trojan!Horse!in!the!Age!
of!Discovery!but!this!is!only!a!drop!in!the!ocean!of!their!potential.!
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But!not!everybody!will!be!convinced.!It!depends!on!your!world!view.!Either!you!
see!innovation!as!a!function!of!genius!or!a!social!process.!Either!application!
innovation!is!a!product!of!genius!creative!agencies!like!IDEO,!product!managers!
and!innovation!departments!or!you!see!it!as!a!function!of!genius!markets.!After!
all,!19!year!olds!gave!us!Facebook,!Napster,!BBM!and!SMS!–!to!name!but!a!few!
surprises!that!emerged!from!the!genius!of!countless!social!interactions.!!
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mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
http://www.mobileyouth.org!http://www.mobileyouthreport.com!
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4. !
What'role'do'youth'play'in'App'innovation?'
Youth'are'key'Innovators'
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Here’s!a!collection!of!how!!organizations!are!harnessing!the!innovative!potential!
of! youth! –! in! store,! in! office,! in! school.! Everyone’s! doing! it! because! they! love!
doing!it!and!no!money!is!changing!hands.!Big!brands!like!Google!and!Apple!aren’t!
pumping! hit/miss! products! onto! their! high! end! users! like! the! mobile! industry!
has! been! doing! for! years.! The! risk! is! absorbed! by! young! users! who! evolve! and!
cocreate!the!product!before!it!reaches!market.!!
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Here’s!a!picture!from!the!Apple!
Store’s!own!strategy!to!capture!
youth!innovation.!Invite!youth!
to!Apple!Camps!with!the!lure!of!
being!able!to!create!&!record!
your!own!videos!and!music.!
Which!selfFrespecting!teenager!
wouldn’t!be!attracted?!Now!you!
have!a!free!focus!group!
highlighting!all!the!potential!
usage!scenarios!evoked!by!a!
! team!of!fearless!developers.!
Things!have!obviously!moved!on!
since!I!last!saw!a!bunch!of!
developers.!These!are!all!young!
and!female.!They!are!the!
Droidettes!patronizing!Google’s!
app!labs.!Google!knows!that!by!
harnessing!and!training!these!
volunteer!developers!they!
create!a!conduit!for!not!only!
innovation!but!also!insight!and!
! marketing!for!the!next!gen!of!
apps.!
The!very!cool!Youth!Applab!in!
DC,!USA.!Young!kids!developing!
apps,!for!education,!for!fun.!
These!youngsters!are!passionate!
about!what!they!do.!They!are!
Amateurs!and!amateurs!are!key!
to!the!future!of!application!
development.!Amateur,!in!Latin!
(Amator)!means!“to!love”!and!in!
this!era!of!attention,!being!
simply!“liked”!means!you!might!
as!well!be!invisible.!!
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mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
http://www.mobileyouth.org!http://www.mobileyouthreport.com!
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5. !
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Top'Down'vs'Bottom'Up'Innovation'
The'future'of'Apps'is'out'there,'beyond'our'control'
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It’s!happening,!it’s!taking!place!out!there!already!and!we!are!not!party!to!it.!
Rather!than!interrupt!it!and!try!to!impress!our!own!ideas!on!the!social!process,!
why!not!simply!support!it!–!like!Apple!and!Google!are!doing?!And!it’s!not!just!
going!to!take!place!in!Cupertino!or!DC,!think!of!the!potential!of!young!mobile!
owners!in!China!and!India!alone.!According!to!mobileYouth.org!data,!1!in!5!of!the!
world’s!mobile!owning!youth!will!be!living!in!India!by!2012.!China!has!already!
taken!the!lead!with!its!3rd!party!Android!market.!
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Quote!from!article!in!Technode:!
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“There’re!lots!of!3rd!party!Android!markets!in!China,!including!AppChina!
(invested!by!Innovation!Works),!which!also!crossed!an!aggregate!of!over!
100!million!downloads,!HiApk!(by!game!vendor!NetDragon),!Aimi8,!
Eoemarket!and!Mumayi.!,!none!of!those!markets!have!generated!positive!
and!consistent!revenue!yet!...!because!the!majority!of!Android!apps!are!
offered!for!free.”!
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mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
http://www.mobileyouth.org!http://www.mobileyouthreport.com!
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6. !
Contact'mobileYouth'
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To!find!out!more!about!the!mobileYouth!Report!and!how!it!can!help!you!please!
send!an!email!to!josh.dhaliwal@mobileyouth.org!
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Josh'Dhaliwal,'Director'
http://www.mobileYouth.org!
http://www.mobileYouthreport.com!
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UK:!+44!20!3286!3635!
North!America:!+1!646!867!3635!
South!Africa:!+!27!11!08!3635!1!
Asia:!+852!8176!3650!
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mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
http://www.mobileyouth.org!http://www.mobileyouthreport.com!
!

7. THE MOBILEYOUTH 2013 REPORT
youth marketing insights for handset brands,
content providers and operators
features:
29 reports
400+ pages
data, charts, cases
mobileYouth:
tracking youth & mobile culture since 2001
MOBILEYOUTH
youth marketing mobile culture since 2001

8. THE MOBILEYOUTH 2013 REPORT
http://www.mobileyouth.org
MOBILEYOUTH
youth marketing mobile culture since 2001