An iPhone runs Digital Clock [App Store link] while resting in a home made stand. Cute idea, actually.

Poolga continues to post very nice wallpaper for the iPhone and iPod touch.

iPhone firmware 2.1 was released today, and I noticed that it adds an “Apps” statistic to the iPhone content bar in iTunes. That’s nice, but I don’t know how I feel about yellow, green and orange next to each other.

“Excluding their visually rich iPod ads, Apple’s commercials focus strongly on product; their Get A Mac campaign humorously illustrates the differences between Windows PCs and Macs, while the iPhone is advertised by simply showing the device’s innovative interface … The ‘Jerry and Bill’ advertisements, so far, only mention product in vague terms, usually resulting in a very stale routine of Seinfeld asking Gates about a “goldfish with a website” or edible computers.”

The interesting thing is that, for years, the opposite was true. Microsoft’s ads touted features while Apple’s were abstract. The “Window” iMac ad is a perfect example:

Today, Apple has abandoned the abstract for concrete information, and Microsoft has eliminated any mention of their products.

So what are those ads about? Well, they aren’t about Windows, and that’s the point. Vista is troublesome. XP is old. “PC,” as played by John Hodgman, is a self-conscious, out-of-touch dweeb in a drab, beige suit. Everyone (and I mean everyone) knows what Windows is. Everyone uses Microsoft products. They needn’t be told about either yet again.

The new ads are about associations. Jerry is funny, and by pairing him with Bill Gates (who, dare I say, actually seems kind of cool in these ads), Microsoft hopes that some of his snarky humor will become associated with their products in the consumers’ minds.

I like them a lot. They’re quirky, they make Bill Gates (arguably the quintessential geek), seem cool and they make me laugh. Apple fanboys will dismiss them as nonsensical, but they’re wrong. These ads are great.

No, they aren’t about Windows, Office, etc. That’s the point.

More

Michael Mistretta offers a counterpoint, while Daniel Jalkut and and Adam Lisagor agree.

Daniel Jalkut:

“…these ads are not meant to influence the immediate buying patterns of viewers, but instead to alter the long-term impression of the company that develops and markets the world’s leading desktop computer operating system.”

Exactly right.

Check out the top process. EZBook running on a 1.25GHz G4 eMac with 768MB RAM.  It pretty much cripples this machine.

I realize it’s an older computer, but man. That’s one greedy application.

Twitterrific, At Bat, FileMagnet, Super Monkey Ball, Remote and Pandora Radio are still on my phone. Recently, Pennies, TypePad and Wordpress have been added.

I’ve realized how an application’s features and benefits affect its longevity. Specifically, the features initially attract your attention, while the benefits grab you for good.

Here’s an example. I love Major League Baseball’s At Bat. It provides nearly real-time statistics for ongoing games, including scoring, current batter and pitcher names and stats, the count at the plate .. even video clips from a game in progress.

Version 1.1 lets you select your favorite team, which keeps their score at the top of the list and highlighted with a star, as well as the update frequency. All of this in an attractive, readable UI.

Those are the features.

The benefit is a feeling of connectedness, even participation, and that’s why this application is a keeper. As a die-hard baseball fan, I want to watch every game (go, Sox!). I know the stats, the players, the standings. Who’s playing well, who’s on injured reserve and who’s in a slump. It’s tremendously fun to watch a baseball game on a summer evening and get lost in the drama of it all.

However, life interferes and I sometimes miss a game. Yet, those live stats and video clips alleviate the feeling of “missing the game,” and that’s worth a lot more than $4.99US to me.

The same can be said of the other applications. Twitterrific is 1,000 friends in your pocket (leave your adolescent joke in the comments, please) - at any time, I can share a funny picture, observation or idea with my buddies, and get a reply just as easily. The benefit is the comfort of friendship.

The benefit of FileMagnet is peace of mind. Yes, I’ve got that PDF for the meeting. Yes, I’ve got the photo I have to show my boss. Phew.

Others that I’ve eliminated went in the other direction — all feature. Cro-Mag Rally featured accelerometer-based steering that got boring after 10 minutes.

Resources:

• Twitterrific
• At Bat
• FileMagnet
• Super Monkey Ball
• Remote
• Pandora Radio
• TypePad
• WordPress

Way to sick your neck out, boys.

“The number of tip calculator apps for iPhone is quickly becoming absurd.”

He’s right. In a few seconds, I found

1. Tiptap
2. Check Please
3. iTip
4. Tips (here’s the lucky bastard who got the name everyone wanted)
   
5. mTip
6. Tipulator
7. BigTipper

These range in price from free to $1.99. The worst part is how darn easy it is to figure a tip in the first place. If the bill is $20.00, you move the decimal one place to the left to figure 10% ($2.00), cut that in half for 5% ($1.00) and then add the two together to get the 15% tip — three bucks.

Really, people. This is 3rd grade math.