Like most of the faithful, each Tuesday I bow my head in solemn prayer towards the Moscone Center, where I eagerly await the next tidings of joy from Apple. I hope that missive is delivered by Our Leader, Steve Jobs, but, in a pinch Phil Schiller will do. However, there are gaps in my knowledge of all things Jobs, and I thought the Times piece did an excellent job at summing up his overall character, which is precisely why Apple tried to kill it.

As I suggested above, the article does spend some time talking about Jobs’s heath issue. What true profile wouldn’t? I found this passage to be the most sobering take on what the poor fellow has gone though:

“Philip Elmer-DeWitt, author of the Apple 2.0 blog at CNNmoney.com, e-mails me the grim details of his operation: ‘He’s lost his gall-bladder, part of his stomach, part of his pancreas, the upper end of his small intestine and now has someone else’s liver, which probably means he’ll be on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of his life. That can’t be fun.’”

We can criticize Jobs’ personality all we want, but the guy has gone through medical hell. The author goes on to mention the battle of Jobs’ privacy vs. the interests of the shareholders:

“… [b]ut employees are one thing; shareholders are another. Should Jobs (who, as far as the world is concerned, is Apple) have been allowed to conceal the seriousness of his illness? Warren Buffett, the greatest investor alive, doesn’t think so. ‘Whether [Steve Jobs] is facing serious surgery or not is a material fact.’”

On that I am in agreement. Granted, my knowledge of the ins and outs of Wall Street is gleaned entirely from the Michael Douglas movie, but, I think Apple should have released that Jobs was in fact near death and required a liver transplant to save his life, in the interest of transparency.

A comparison is made between the Jobs we see in public and the Jobs Apple employees alone are privy to. The Apple Jobs is a harsh taskmaster; the one that gets on stage on the Moscone Center is more like Santa Claus bearing gifts on Christmas. I can see an Apple employee paraphrasing the old Bill Cosby line: “That is not the Steve Jobs I grew up with. That’s an old person, trying to get into heaven.”

What’s most important about Jobs to Apple, the tech community, and me personally is summed up in this statement (emphasis mine):

“Good Steve is the only businessman to be accorded rock-god status by millions. Apple nuts queue overnight to hear him speak. They buy Macs, iPods and iPhones not just because they want them, but also because they want to support this company as if it were some kind of charity or cult. The nuts aren’t wrong for one crucial reason. Though personally worth $3.4 billion, Jobs is one of them, the great consumer of his own products.“

To me, that’s Jobs. While he’s spoken of as a narcissistic control freak who’s about as pleasant to be around as Bigfoot with a toothache, Steve Jobs obsesses over his user experience with Apple’s products. That, in turn, means I’m likely to have a good experience with those same products.

Appleyard goes on to post his prediction for a post-Jobs Apple:

“My own view is that a Jobsless Apple will seek a merger with Google. The two companies are rapidly converging, a fact that recently led to the resignation of the Apple director Eric Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive of Google. He had been on the Apple board for three years, and was forced out because of suspicions that links between the two companies could endanger competition.”

I don’t buy that at all. I have a hard time seeing either Apple or Google merging with anyone, much less with each other. I don’t think Apple and Google core business interests coincide sufficiently — although Chrome and Android are enough to warrant a conflict of interest for Schmidt. To me, Google’s core business is searches and ads; where they collide with Apple is in areas that drive those two. Chrome OS isn’t going to be a threat to anyone making an OS, but a tablet running Chrome OS will help drive its search business by giving you a convenient product on which to use Google Apps. It’s a definite conflict, but it isn’t solid bedrock for an absolute merger.

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As a mobile device, the iPhone crosses several different user groups. From business users to media junkies, a wide range of people use the iPhone in a variety of different ways. The App Store is fueling this variation even further on account of the huge array of different applications available.

A few pieces of research have been conducted that give an interesting glimpse into the profile of iPhone users, and the main activities they choose to perform with their device. This post will summarize a few different results and draw some interesting comparisons between the uses of an iPhone compared to other mobile phones.

Compete.com Survey

Compete.com has recently gathered a collection of data surrounding the use of the iPhone. They found that:

• iPhone owners are twice as likely as other Smartphone owners to be comfortable with advertising within the applications on their device.
• 33 percent of iPhone owners use maps and GPS more than ten times a month, compared to 13 percent of Smartphone owners.
• Almost twice as many iPhone owners than Smartphone users complete at least one financial transaction on their mobile device each month.
• 93 percent of iPhone owners have added an application versus only 66 percent of Smartphone owners.

The statistics relating to increased map usage are most likely due to the implementation of Google Maps software — it’s slick, easy to use and very intuitive. The other statistics are more interesting, and worth considering a little further.

The fact that 93 percent of owners have added an application is a very impressive figure. Considering the App Store has been open for only a few months, such a high awareness and take-up rate is excellent. It comes down to a combination of a very successful marketing campaign from Apple, coupled with a system that is incredibly easy to use. Applications are easy to find, often inexpensive, and as evidenced by the number of users downloading them, add real value to the iPhone.

The statistic relating to financial transactions comes as an initial surprise — why would users feel safer conducting online banking on their iPhone? I think this is one advantage that comes from a mobile browser based on a desktop counterpart. Apple users who surf with Safari on their Mac are likely to instinctively trust the security and reliability of the mobile version — feeling comfortable accessing their finances online.

Finally, the issue of advertising is an interesting one. This could be down either to the type of user (corporate Blackberry users may recoil quicker at the idea of advertising compared to media-savvy, younger consumers), or the fact that Mac users are more familiar with the concept from ad-supported desktop software (e.g. Twitteriffic). I suspect the former is likely to be the case, with iPhone users preferring to accept a free, ad-supported application rather than paying for it directly.

Rubicon Consulting Research

A recent survey entitled ‘The Apple iPhone: Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry’ looked at the profile of iPhone users. They found that:

• The iPhone user base consists mainly of young early adopters about three quarters of whom are previous Apple customers.
• 50 percent of iPhone users are under thirty, and 15 percent are students.
• Half of the iPhone users replaced conventional mobile phones (commonly the Motorola Razr) while 40 percent replaced other smartphones (such as Blackberrys and Windows Mobile devices).
• Email is the most commonly used feature — 70 percent of users check email on the iPhone at least once a day
• 60 percent of users browse the internet at least once per day
• Three quarters of users do more web surfing on the iPhone than on their previous device.

It should be noted that this survey was conducted just prior to the introduction of the iPhone 3G — so some figures may have changed since then. However, the general trends and conclusions are still likely to be valid.

The fact that iPhone users are young and ‘tech savvy’ does not come as a particular surprise. Nor does the concept that previous Apple customers are more likely to buy an iPhone (especially as an Apple customer is anyone who has bought an iPod — over 163 million have been sold).

The split of switchers from both conventional and smart phone users is interesting. It shows clearly that the iPhone has succeeded in targeting both types of user well, catering equally to business users requiring email and web capabilities as well as those more interested in photos, videos and music. This is no mean feat, showing that the latest Exchange features are beginning to bring the iPhone into an enterprise setting.

The Typical iPhone User

Essentially, none of these statistics are particularly startling, though they do go a long way towards providing definite proof for ideas we have taken for granted (i.e. that the well implemented Mobile Safari browser will stimulate greater use of mobile internet).

Would you say that your iPhone usage echoes the findings of the above surveys, or do some of the statistics come as a surprise?

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Approaching their products from the user’s point of view helps App Cubby to rely on carefully crafted features and clean interfaces to provide maximum functionality and ease of use to anyone interested in their applications. While many developers are pushing the bleeding edge, often using gimmicky features, the Cubby apps are straightforward and seem to be fully thought-out by the time they come to market.

Trip Cubby (iTunes link) captures all of the mileage information you could need in order to be reimbursed for any travel you may incur. While the entry screen may appear to be lengthy at first glance, most fields are optional and up to you to fill out. Better yet, Trip Cubby is kind enough to remember the useful stuff for you (like last odometer setting, date/time, and even frequent trips you take), making entry even quicker the more you use it. The app even allows you to keep track of whether the reimbursement has been reconciled or not. Add a very tweakable search feature, and the ability to email the results in .csv format and you’re talking about a real winner of an iPhone application. Oh, and version 2 is supposed to let you track mileage using the 3G’s built-in GPS. Slick, eh?

At a regular price of $9.99 (through the end of September – that’s today folks! – you can nab it for a bargain price of $4.99), Trip Cubby tends to ride the edge of the ‘higher’ priced apps available for the iPhone (everything relative of course, many apps seem to reside in the $.99 – $1.99 price range). I asked lead man David Barnard about their pricing decisions, seeing how lower prices generally bring more buyers. Proud of his team’s work, David described Trip Cubby as a “premium product.” He goes on to say:

“I’d rather provide an incredible product and attentive support to people who see value in a polished iPhone app, instead of growing market share on price alone.”

An honorable and well thought-out plan from someone who clearly believes in their product.

Cash Cubby has already been revealed on the developer’s website to be to expense reporting what Trip Cubby is to mileage tracking. As it turns out, Cash Cubby is temporarily on the back burner to make time for Gas Cubby, a forthcoming catch-all for your auto maintenance records. I currently use some MPG-tracking iPhone app (they’re all named the same, so who knows which it is), and it works well enough. But based on my experiences thus far with Trip Cubby, and my new insights to the App Cubby ‘Mission’, I’m hopeful for the upcoming release.

The opportunity for developers to get any old program out on the App Store and make a few quick bucks is surely an enticing one. But the guys at App Cubby are happy to toil on one thing at a time, making sure they’ve thought it all out before moving forward. David explains the difference he feels that App Cubby is capable of, being comprised of a team rather than a singular coder:

“Had either of us [Jon Johnson, being the "Master of Code"] attempted to code Trip Cubby on our own, it wouldn’t be anywhere near as functional and polished as it is today. Had I not contracted with several designers, the icon, website, and UI would be no where near as beautiful as they are today. I’m thrilled to be selling a product that meets my own high standards for what an iPhone app should be. But, I’m even more thrilled that others seem to use and love Trip Cubby as much as I do!”

As a paying customer, I very much appreciate such a methodology, and feel these guys will reap the rewards in the long run rather than making a few quick sales and petering out.

If you’re in need of an easy way to keep tabs on mileage, head on over to App Cubby’s website for a thorough demo (screencast) of its features. (A nice option to have before plunking down your hard earned cash, if you ask me.) If you like what you see, grab Trip Cubby at the bargain price of $4.99 until October 1st.

Thanks to David for taking the time to answer my questions – best of luck to you and your team!

Writer’s note: I am not affiliated with App Cubby, nor do I benefit from a profile of their company. Such coverage will hopefully be a new and regular appearance on The Apple Blog.

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