Apps Now Becomes One Kind of Media

App has dominated the world. If you do not agree with it, I'll prove it. iPhone now reaches 123 countries and regions. Of course, if you use iPhone, you are using iPhone app. Just like internet, now app are used every corner of the world.

However, media, including books, music, movies, are used much less than apps. Just look at Apple, report said that only 51 countries and regions can purchase music through iTunes and 6 countries and regions can purchase TV show on iTunes.

There are many limitations in traditional media area, especially in TV and Movies. And every channel customes their own rules(Cinema, Pay to watch, DVD, Cable TV and Internet Streaming Media). iTunes' music and video and all the music and video on the internet's limitation on geographic shows that there's still a long way to go to make a legal market of digital media all around the world.

There is one way that can do that: app. It presents the future of media. App is media. Just like games and software are regarded as media, app is also a kind of media. Not only that, it now a swallow other forms of media little by little.

We first experience this kind of "software swallows media" is Book. The best book on iPad does not only provide iBook and Kindle version, but also provided as standalone app. All the best child book on iPad are apps with full function. They all integrate pictures and video in the user experience.

"Tin Tin" on iPad is a perfect example of this. It is adapted from a carton movie, in which integrates 3D model and 360° room to let readers to feel that you are in the story. Music and movies are relatively passive experience, but they now in apps and become one of the funcion in an app. With the more and more media are integrated into apps, software and media's boundary is now much fuzzier than ever before.

This trend first appeares in production areas, more and more music, video and movie are produced by iPhone. Apps that can integrate music and video are much more than before. Before we enter the next era, we need a lone time of upgrading. Think about it. Nowadays, how the whole media content is spreaded by app? No matter people enjoy the media through Spotify or watch movies with iPad through netflix, the music and movies do not change anyway. It just provides much better user experience.

If you want to promote a music or a TV show and make it popular among people, you can put them on Facebook and Twitter and millions of people will share it and your music or TV show will really really popular. You do not need to spend millions of USD to promote it on radio or TV.

The apps that provides this kind of media will influnce our consumption habits very much. Apps will help us to find media through SNS and bring them to TV, iPad, speaker and other devices. They do that without a set-top boxes, radio and book store and they make you spend your money with app. Every media compay must pay attention to this or they will be in trouble.