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Killer application

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A killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is a computer program that is so useful or desirable that it proves the value of some underlying technology, such as a gaming console, operating system, or piece of computer hardware.

VisiCalc, the earliest generally-agreed example of a killer application.

History

The first example of a killer application is generally agreed to be the VisiCalc spreadsheet on the Apple II platform (e.g. [1]). The machine was purchased in the thousands by finance workers (in particular, bond traders) on the strength of this one program. The next example is another spreadsheet, Lotus 1-2-3. Sales of IBM's PC had been slow until 1-2-3 was made public; the IBM became the best-selling computer only a few months after Lotus 1-2-3's initial release.

A killer app can provide an important niche market for a non-mainstream platform. Aldus PageMaker and Adobe PostScript gave the graphic design and desktop publishing niche to the Apple Macintosh in the late 1980s, a niche it retains to this day despite the fact that PCs running Windows have been capable of running versions of the same applications since the early 1990s.

Trends

File:Masterchiefshoot.jpg
Bungie Studios' Halo and Halo 2 compelled many to purchase the Xbox.

There have been a number of new uses of the term. For instance the usefulness of e-mail drew many people to use computer networks, while the Mosaic web browser is generally credited with the popularization of the World Wide Web and hence the Internet. The term has also been applied to computer and video games that cause consumers to buy a particular video game console or gaming hardware. Nintendo 64 saw much success with the releases of Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The Game Boy saw Tetris, and following Game Boy iterations saw the highly-successful Pokémon series. Software developers of new platforms now tend to focus considerable effort into discovering or creating the next "killer app" for a given technology.

Selected applications for computer systems

Selected applications for gaming consoles

See also

Further reading

  1. ^ D.J. Power, A Brief History of Spreadsheets, DSSResources.COM, v3.6, 08 August 2004
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