Steve Jobs on Apps Over Search
What Jobs talks about
Jobs argues that mobile users are spending their time in apps rather than searching the web the way they do on PCs. He points to practical tasks like finding a restaurant or checking a flight as examples of app-first behavior.
He says Apple has data showing this shift, and he sees apps as a new phenomenon driven by the mobile environment. The key idea is that phones are changing how people find information and get things done.
This matters because it frames mobile as a different computing model, not just a smaller version of desktop or laptop use.
Jobs speaks throughout.
In his words
“People are not spending their time in searching”
“They are spending their time in apps.”
“We have a lot of data. We know this.”
“People are using apps more than searching.”
Key points
- Mobile phones are not like desktop or laptop PCs in how people use them.
- People are spending more time in apps than in search.
- Tasks like restaurant lookup or flight status are moving into dedicated apps.
- Apple has data showing users are using apps more than search.
- Apps are a new phenomenon enabled by the mobile ecosystem.
Full transcript
There is a very interesting discussion going on on mobile phones. They are not copying DAGGLE, DESKTOP or LAPTOP PC because people are not spending their time in searching. They are not even searching as much as they were searching on PC. We have a lot of data. We know this. They are spending their time in apps. For any reason, if people want to find out which restaurant to go to, they will not type JAPANI or PALO ALTO on their search engine. They are going to Yelp or any other app to find out whether their flights are on time or not. And I don't know why they are different from PC. I think I know this, but I don't believe it.
I think there are such apps because there was not a single place with 2000 apps where a lot of them were free and the rest were very cheap for PC. I think apps are a new phenomenon in my life and in your life. I think people are using apps. We know that they are using apps more than searching.
Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.