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Holtz Communications + Technology

Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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App stores are just another way to curate content

On last week’s edition of This Week in Tech, the panel unanimously belittled Google for its announcement of a Chrome web store. Questioning the point of the tool, frequent panelist John C. Dvorak summarized the rest of the group’s befuddlement by asking whether people couldn’t just go to the application’s website.

Of course they can, but as the number of apps proliferate, having them aggregated in one place is a matter of convenience for users, and another example of curating content.

The curation issue is one worth paying attention to. Consider the success of OneForty.com, Laura Fitton’s brilliant catalogue of Twitter tools, which you can find by category (productivity, lifestyle, business and marketing, etc.) or platform (mobile, tablet, desktop, or browser). Almost all of these tools can be found on their developers’ websites, but OneForty.com not only makes it easier, but adds the social dimension of user reviews and ratings.

GDGT is another example of curation, this time for consumer electronics. Google already has a Google Apps Marketplace that fulfills the same function for “products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps.” Even the iPhone app store and the Android market feature user ratings and comments.

Shel Holtz

Ragan Communications (the lead sponsor of my podcast, For Immediate Release) was lauded by FastCompany recently for PR Daily, a collection of links to current content about communications, each one introduced with a blurb providing context. FastCompany recognized PR Daily in a blog post titled, “Five B2B Trends for 2011,” noting…

More people will pay others to simplify their lives. The Web has caused people to feel overwhelmed by information. Aggregators will emerge the victors. Alltop and Ragan Communications’ Daily Headlines services are fine examples of effective data aggregation. I predict a surge in personal shoppers and concierge services designed for the masses.

It’s more than just aggregation, though. Curation includes categorization and contextualizing (like those introductory blurbs on PR Daily).

And that’s how I see the Google App Store. Dvorak is right, of course. You can just search for the kind of app you want, but these catalogues, stores, and markets, just make it easier, and anything that helps people make sense of the ever-increasing flood of information and content will earn fans and followers—and enhance their brands.

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