There's nothing like a bit of time wasting in the guise of research. You know what it's like. You get a kernel of an idea and have to Google it. Before you know it, a few hours have passed and you've still not fleshed it out. Instead, you find yourself getting sidetracked by a raft of unrelated topics that you'd never normally bother with, let alone stop to read.
Thanks to the much-anticipated launch of the BlackBerry App World in the UAE, I've done my fair share of time-wasting this week. Although I've ventured into the world of apps before, I hadn't spent much time in BlackBerry's App World, even though I own one.
There are millions of apps out there that can help you with pretty much everything and you are only limited by the amount of memory you've got on your smartphone. From supposedly managing your life to getting your personal finances in check to boosting your business skills and strategies, there's something out there for everybody.
I know this because I spent the better part of the week digging around BlackBerry App World. As usual, however, I found myself losing touch with the real reason I was there in the first place: searching for useful personal finance apps that we can use in the UAE.
Instead, I found myself wondering why somebody would want to develop an app called Charmmy Kitty, a "white Persian cat that Papa gave to Hello Kitty as a gift. She is well-mannered, quiet and listens to whatever Hello Kitty says." OK, then. Even more interesting is that it costs US$5.99 (Dh21.91) to download.
I know this is pretty much inconsequential to my aim here, and probably even a huge waste of your time, but I know for a fact that Hello Kitty can't talk, even if she wanted to. And let's, just for a moment, forget that toys are incapable of talking. Unless, of course, you are three, and (hopefully) won't be reading this.
In another example of my tendency to waste time, I read a couple of years ago an analysis about why Hello Kitty, which is owned by the Japanese company Sanrio, was such a hit with adult women. It's because she doesn't have a mouth and is, therefore, unable to give the impression that she can talk. Apparently, this makes her non-threatening to some women, which means big profits for Sanrio.
In reality, a lot of the apps out there are serious time-wasters. Not just for the people who are tempted to download them, but, I suspect, for the people who developed them. Although I reckon they'll tell you otherwise, especially if they are charging us to download their apps.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of choice for people wanting to download personal finance apps that can be used here. I did find a bar-code app, but it was for the US.
There were also some handy business-card scanning apps. The closest I got to personal finance was a monthly payment calculator, an app that helps you work out your total payments and interest on a variety of loans, including mortgages and car payments.
But then I got sidetracked again and discovered the Guardian Angel app, which is designed to limit the user's ability to text or talk while they are driving. Something many drivers could use in the UAE.
Then there was the Aces Traffic Pack Classic, which challenges you to manoeuvre your car around parking lots and traffic jams. Considering I do this every day in real life, adding to my tally of wasted time, it's not an app that I'll be downloading in a hurry.
And then there was the Crazy Cabbie app. I shied away from this one because a taxi driver crashed into the back of my car on Tuesday morning and I really don't want to relive that moment again.
Which got me thinking. I should develop my own app. The UK-based Juniper Research firm has forecast the mobile apps market to be worth US$25 billion in 2014. Now here's a market we should all be cashing in on.
I'd call my app Mini Me and design it to take care of everything in my life, from making my credit-card payments to ensuring that I have enough cash in my wallet to pay the guy who washes my car. One day, I might even be able to develop it enough to sit at my desk for me and drive my car, but that's going to take some serious research.
Eventually, I stumbled on the Activity Log Classic, an app that tracks the time you invest in your daily activities. Even time-wasting. It's free, so perhaps I should be giving it a go, especially when I'm in research mode.
