Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Ultimate Killer App: The Power to Create and Connect
    The Ultimate Killer App: The Power to Create and Connect
    The Ultimate Killer App: The Power to Create and Connect
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    The Ultimate Killer App: The Power to Create and Connect

    By Michael Harrington

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Ultimate Killer App!
    The term “killer app” is so ubiquitous in technology circles as to become a cliché. It now represents the Holy Grail of tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. But a killer application broadly understood goes far beyond the narrow definitions of smart phone mobile apps. Ultimate killer apps (UKAs) are technologies that change our world and the ways we relate to it. In other words, they change our lives in profound ways. (In so doing, they may or may not generate boat-loads of cash.)
    The question is: how do they do that?
    UKAs do so by serving our basic human needs, offering strategies to enhance our survival and our search for meaning. They enhance our survival in many ways, with material benefits that build economic security and promote communal solidarity while helping us become more efficient and effective in securing our basic needs. They provide psychological and emotional rewards by empowering us to create and to share our creations. Creativity and social connectedness have been shown to enhance our health, happiness, well-being, and life satisfaction.
    History offers quite a few cases of UKAs that illustrate these unique qualities. One of the more significant is fire, which allowed primitive communities to survive extreme climates and expand their diets, nurturing the culinary arts. But gathering around the fire also promoted communal rituals that fostered the creation and sharing of music, dance, and storytelling.
    We can fast-forward a few thousand years and consider another ubiquitous UKA that probably escaped our notice: the humble pencil. With sheer simplicity and economy, the pencil facilitates the recording and sharing of ideas, thereby promoting their creation. One needs only a ten-cent pencil and a writing surface to share the wealth of human knowledge and creativity.
    In this same way, we see how and why digital media and microchip technology has radically transformed our world: its economics, its global connectedness, and its proliferation of information. The Information Age has dictated that “information wants to be free.” Essentially, it’s true. For instance, take this blurb you’re reading to promote this short eBook. I’ll give you the basic ideas contained in this eBook for FREE and you can save less than the price of a Starbuck’s coffee. (Actually, we’ve both probably paid someone else for access to this World Wide Web through which we are communicating.)
    So, let me repeat in a nutshell: The Ultimate Killer App empowers our human desire and need to CREATE and to SHARE our creations in order to socially CONNECT. That’s it, create, share, connect. If that’s all you needed to know, I’ve saved you $3. If your curiosity is piqued, you can read my author’s blog and get the full story piece-meal over the next few months. Or, you can save yourself time and energy by paying the $3 and satisfy your curiosity immediately with the complete details. You see, the ideas are free; the packaging, time, and search savings are the value you may want to pay for. It’s your time, but trust me, it’s a better pay-off than a cappuccino.
    Read on and find out how creating and sharing provide the foundation for our economy, our educational system, our cultural evolution, and our civilization. This little book is about more than killer apps, it’s about life itself.
    One final teaser. At the origin of life, nature developed THE ultimate killer app: S-E-X.
    (I deliberately capitalized that to seize your attention. Download for more cheap titillation.)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichael Harrington
    Release dateSep 12, 2016
    ISBN9781370976409
    The Ultimate Killer App: The Power to Create and Connect
    Author

    Michael Harrington

    Michael Harrington is a former Law Enforcement officer with over ten years of experience in digital forensics. He lectures on Mobile Forensics around the world and has been involved in various forensic projects including Pandora's Box and WOLF. Michael has been published in the Thomas J Cooley Law Journal and on Forensic Focus. He also writes on the subject of mobile forensics at http://mobileforensics.wordpress.com/

    Read more from Michael Harrington

    Related to The Ultimate Killer App

    Related ebooks

    Internet & Web For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Do It In The Dark

      Jun 22, 2021

      Do It In The Dark
      2 min read

    • Article

      Terrific Tigers!

      Jun 30, 2022

      Terrific Tigers!
      1 min read

    • Article

      Beat Your Best Score

      Aug 19, 2021

      Good preparation before you get to the tee sets you up for a good day. You have to manage your time well. You have to make sure you eat at the right time and that your hydration levels are good. You need to have a good warm-up so your body is ready t

      4 min read

    • Article

      Maintain THE HABIT

      Feb 9, 2020

      As we head towards March, some of those well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions we made may be falling off, and old habits could be sneaking back in. The brain controls our habitual behaviour, which has three elements – a cue, a routine and a reward

      2 min read

    • Article

      Essentials

      Feb 7, 2023

      Essentials
      3 min read

    • Article

      PODCAST Reviews

      Oct 26, 2021

      Episode: “An Interview with Author, Entrepreneur, and Community Organizer Shelly Tygielski” Mindfulness teachers and authors Shelly Tygielski and Mitch Abblett have a laid-back conversation about Tygielski’s new book Sit Down to Rise Up and what it m

      1 min read

    • Article

      Editorial

      May 3, 2022

      Editorial
      1 min read

    • Article

      Horde Mode

      Jan 30, 2023

      Horde Mode
      5 min read

    • Article

      Micro Knives

      Jun 18, 2019

      You’ve probably heard the axiom “two is one and one is none” — in other words, it’s advisable to have access to backups of critical gear in case your primary tools are damaged, lost, or taken from you. Few of the items you carry are as essential as a

      5 min read

    • Article

      Social Graces: Is It Rude To Ask If A Person Died From The Coronavirus?

      Dec 7, 2020

      Q: One of your friends posted on social media that a loved one passed away. Is it OK to ask if the person died of COVID-19? A: This is an interesting point to consider as we are all wrestling with the effects of COVID-19. As it’s a social media “frie

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Science

      Dec 7, 2021

      The Science
      1 min read

    • Article

      Access Your Free Ebook

      Feb 8, 2022

      1. Go to our web page at quick link bit.ly/pp188ebook Please enter this in your internet browser bar (not into Google), and allow time for the hi-res eBook to appear. 2. On the web page that appears you will able to view the eBook PDF in your interne

      1 min read

    • Article

      6 Apps To Make You More Punctual

      Oct 16, 2018

      Douglas Adams once wrote that “time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” Unfortunately we’ve learnt the hard way that nobody agrees that time is an illusion if you’re late for their wedding, meeting, or rocket launch. Thank goodness, then, for the i

      2 min read

    • Article

      Violet SENSUAL BEAUTY

      Sep 10, 2023

      Violet SENSUAL BEAUTY
      2 min read

    • Article

      LOSING OUR Religion

      Sep 17, 2020

      LOSING OUR Religion
      4 min read

    • Article

      Jodi Tiahrt

      Sep 8, 2022

      Jodi Tiahrt
      2 min read

    • Article

      Breaking The Limit

      Feb 7, 2023

      Breaking The Limit
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Metamorphosis

      Jul 11, 2019

      The Metamorphosis
      8 min read

    • Article

      Goodbye Clickbait, Hello Community

      Dec 29, 2020

      Goodbye Clickbait, Hello Community
      2 min read

    • Article

      Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Your Free Will

      Sep 21, 2017

      It’s not that James Williams, a doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute’s Digital Ethics Lab (motto: “Every Bit as Good”), had a “God, what I have I done?” moment during his time at Google. But it did occur to him that something had gone

      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Ultimate Killer App

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Ultimate Killer App - Michael Harrington

      The Ultimate Killer App:

      The Power to Create and Connect

      by

      Michael Harrington, MBA, PhD

      The Ultimate Killer App:

      The Power to Create and Connect

      by Michael Harrington

      © 2016 by Michael Harrington

      RSBS Productions

      1210 Stearns Drive

      Los Angeles, CA 90035

      All Rights Reserved. 2016

      Digital SW Edition – August 2016

      With the exception of brief excerpts, no part of this manuscript may be transmitted, reproduced, or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, who may be contacted by email through the Internet links below:

      Michael Harrington

      Author’s Guild Page

      http://casinocap.wordpress.com/

      Author’s Facebook Page

      This eBook is licensed for your personal use only. This eBook version may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Note: A FREE pdf copy of this manuscript may be available from the author’s blog site or by contacting the author directly through the addresses above. Thank you for your help and cooperation in maintaining the integrity of this work.

      ISBN-13: 978-1370976409

      Reference | Self-Help | Body, Mind & Spirit | Psychology | Technology | Art | Music |

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: What is a Killer App

      Chapter 2: Social Connection

      Chapter 3: Creativity and Flow

      Chapter 4: Create, Share, and Connect

      Chapter 5: The Big Picture

      Figure 1: How We Create

      Figure 2: How We Share

      Figure 3: How We Connect

      Conclusion: The Role of Technology

      Author’s Bio

      Acknowledgments

      Other Works by Michael Harrington

      Notes

      Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives ... most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity... [and] when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.

      Mihály Csikszentmihályi

      Man is by nature a social animal… Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.

      Aristotle

      The Ultimate Killer App

      The Power to Create and Connect

      Introduction

      Popular usage of the term killer app (KA) has become somewhat a cliché in the technology world – a buzzword that evokes grandiose visions of fame and fortune. Everybody is seeking to cash in on the ultimate killer app (UKA) that will change the world and pay off with instant billions. That’s really not what this book is about, though certainly the ideas discussed here can be applied to such an objective and, in fact, necessarily underpin the design of every such successful application.

      Instead, I wrote this short monograph to explore and interpret the interaction of technology with human nature. We humans are predominantly a social species. Over two millennia we have created a social world that, while closely connected to the natural world, is often perceived as apart from nature. I believe that any successful technology is derived from, and reinforcing of, human nature. I will argue that creating and sharing (or connecting socially) are the primary instinctual behaviors that define us as humans and impart meaning to our existence.¹ Combined in love and sex, creating and sharing are the catalysts for procreation and survival of the species. Technology can help reinforce the connection we have with our nature. Conversely, it can also tempt us to disconnect. Think how television or computer games often turn children into little anti-social zombies, or how Facebook and smartphones have led us to become less social in the here and now. I will try to convince you, with a plethora of evidence, that truly successful technology, the essence of the killer app of our title, is technology that enhances our human nature by empowering us to create and connect.

      First, we need to understand what a killer app really is. The idea is about much more than a viral smart phone application. Rather, KAs are innovative technologies that change our world in the manner suggested above: they reinforce our connections with the natural and social world, as we humans must straddle both. In more measurable terms, KAs can aid us in various functions that promote our survival through greater security and social solidarity. They can help us achieve our chosen life’s objectives – whatever they may be – more efficiently and effectively. They can help us economize on the associated costs of achieving our goals in terms of time, energy, and money saved. They can also help us self-actualize in terms of psychological and emotional well-being. They can enhance our happiness and our physical health, improving measures of life satisfaction and well-being. Finally, they can empower us in our search for life’s ultimate meaning.

      In each of these functions we can identify a particular human instinct or behavioral impulse that is served by a particular technology. The question we will try to answer is how do KAs actually do that? Finding different answers to that question is fundamentally what made Steve Jobs a genius in the computer technology field. In the chapters that follow, we will explore how to find these answers in places we perhaps haven’t even thought to look.

      We’ll start by defining what a killer app is. And what it is not. Everyone probably has a vague idea of what a KA looks or feels like, but we need to derive a generalized definition that fits all these specific examples. We want to discover what makes a technology a killer app, as opposed to a mere passing fad. We can apply this analysis to various examples of killer apps, some of which may surprise you. Then we can raise the ante to differentiate between killer apps and ultimate killer apps, presenting a few more obvious and less obvious examples to examine. Let us take, for

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1