I Phone Applications

Ever since the IPhone's debut a few years ago, new applications for it have skyrocketed, and periodic columns tell us what apps the author things are the best. Last week, for example, one author emphasized the "organize your life"-types of applications, along with the stunning astronomy app., which enables a viewer to point at a constellation and then have it identified. Another article emphasized the "fun and entertainment" side of the applications. In this essay I discuss the kind of applications I would really like to see for the IPhone to be a true tech tool for me. At this point, I don't think any of them exist.

First, My Philosophy of IPhone Apps

In a word, I am looking for IPhone appls that are learning-oriented. Others can take the games, the chase scenes and blow-em-up action. Give me applications that enhance learning. In brief, this knowledge should be accurate, succinct, visual and clearly expressed. It should allow people of all ages not just to "think" the knowledge, but to "see" it, or even feel/taste it. Knowledge is most secure when it appeals to a multitude of senses. For example, if the application is going to show dance steps of 20 popular dances, it should stop, "rewind," make sure that each step is clearly presented in a visually rich way. If the app. presents an interpretation of a text, let it have the text right there on the screen, with clear indications of how the text is being clarified. If a word is being defined, there should not simply be the word and its definition, but much on its origin and many passages seeing it "at work," drawn from literature or newspaper articles or other sources. If a historical event is being described, show maps, dates, and identify specific things that happened on that date and why those events are significant. In other words, I am looking for material that is visually rich, intellectually rewarding, clearly presented.

With those general observation in mind, let's look at what my top few applications would be.

1. Plant/Animal/Insect Identifer

There are many applications that identify plants. That isn't the issue. I want a 'living' application that will, like the astronomy one, allow me to point my IPhone at a plant, and then have it "ring up" Mimosa pudens or whatever it happens to be. But I not only want it to identify the name, both popular and Linnaean, I would like it to have an explanation of what the Latin name means, who came up with it (year, too), and why it is so named. I would like there to be a succinct description of the plant, with photos, so that I could stop and "check out" the plant, thus securing the knowledge deeper in my mind. I would like information about its life cycle, the best habitat for it to flourish, and something about what might make it unique. I would like also to have some examples from literature where it is referenced. If we can do this for the stars, why not for every living thing.

2. Geology

And, if for living things, why not for minerals and soils also? If one verse of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" can say, "I love thy rocks and rills; Thy woods and templed hills..." why can't we learn to love them by calling them by their right names? I would love to learn about the Mohs hardness scale, and be able to have the IPhone look at stones, rocks, geological formations and tell me not only what the rocks are, but their hardness, characteristics, formation, age, etc. And, dirt? Why not? Once you live in the agricultural Midwest, you really learn how many types of soils there are. Let's learn what they are, as we encounter them.

3. A Living Simile Library

Writers and those who get paid to use the English language are benifitted by having the most visual, powerful, direct and entertaining uses of language at their fingertips. We fool ourselves if we think that good communication is just a matter of blurting it out; it arises from deep thought on words, settings, and the connection of words to the ideas you want to express. What we need is an "app" that will allow one to to two things: (1) punch in a phrase and have tons of similes come up using that word, with literary references, especially; and (2) have a daily search feature of hundreds of newspapers, recent books and other published sources that "ransack" these sources for all the similes used. Having this living simile library at our fingertips will do more to aid eloquent and vision communication in English than almost anything.

4. Tibetan Conversational and Written Phrases

OK, I admit it. This is just my onw "schtick." I am taking Tibetan now, and the language, at least in its written form, is something I have never encountered. It is an alphabetic language but unlike any alphabetic language I know, there is no way to infer how to write the word from the sound of it. Tibetan has silent prefixes, stacked letters, single and secondary unpronunced suffixes, all of which make pronunciation and spelling seemingly unrelated. So, this app. would both be a visual exposure to the words, but would also present phrases, sentences, and so forth in a familiar form of dialogues to learn the language.

5. Tours of Places

I want an IPhone application that can take me on tours. Not just any kind of tours, such as of the Taj Mahal or of the Empire State Building, but of all kinds of structures. But the key here is not simply that it be a "virtual tour," but that it be able to "stop" the action, point to various architectural features, identify them and tell me why they are so named. If, for example, I am in a Victorian home, and there is all kinds of molding on the walls, I want the application to be able to identify the "egg and dart" or whatever it is, tell me when it arose, and tell me anything interesting about it that it can. I would like to have some "history of architecture" portions to the application, so that I can, as it were, take a historical tour of classic US homes, from the salt-box homes of Puritan New England to the most modern CA homes of the 21st century. I would like federal style, Second Empire, Craftsman, Frank Lloyd Wright, and so many others. But why stop there? Why not have part of the application be a "Greek Temple" map, with a living tour of various remains of classical temples, identifying everything patiently from plinth to architrave. And, once you have this in your mind, you can see how this kind of app. can be expanded indefinitely.

Conclusion

I still haven't shared my most demanding/exciting idea. I will ahve to save that for another essay. Suffice it to say here that I would hope that someone out there is "listening" and realizes that learning is central not just to the life of some people, but it will be foudational for us as a nation to go forward. Make it part of our IPhones. Don't force us just to think about games and escaping from the clutches of imaginary foes..

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