It really is true. When it comes to smartphone apps, there really is one for just about ANYTHING! As a result, every company and corporation jumps on the bandwagon to get an app out there, and frankly, I’ve discovered that the results are somewhat mixed.
One of my favorites is for Great Clips, the family budget-friendly hair cuttery. With their app, I can put myself in line for a haircut without being in the building. When I get there, I’m usually in front of the line. If the wait is exceptionally long, I know that up front, so I can get some more work done, or grab a bite to eat, before I head in. At any rate, I walk in, and usually sit right in a chair.
When I was exploring travel options for my recent vacation, I used a variety of smartphone apps. I used the Priceline app for both setting up my rental car AND my hotel stays. This was a mixed bag. When I realized, naturally, that Captain Kirk was sending me to Enterprise for my rental car, I shrugged and downloaded THEIR app. I still don’t quite get the point of the Enterprise app. It seems to be doing some kind of “share a ride” service, almost like a Uber model, and has nothing to do with actually renting an automobile. I’ll delete that one, I suppose, as well as the Hotels dot com app and Hotel Tonight, both of which offer last-minute discounts on hotels that you book at the last possible moment. I just didn’t like my options on either one.
Back to Priceline, traveling with my daughter, we found the app to be a mixed blessing when it came to hotel stays. For the trip up north, we were directed to a Days Inn in Christiansburg, VA. The app claimed that it was non-smoking. So we booked. Not only was it 100% smoking (I didn’t know that this kind of barbarism still existed), we had to share a Queen-sized bed. My daughter did most of her sleeping in the car the next day. For the trip back, however, we did much better. I opted to take a shot on a “blind item.” Priceline will charge you the rate of a single star hotel for a double star hotel. The catch is, you don’t know the name of the chain, or even the exact location of the hotel, until you book your room. They DO list for you eight or nine chains that are SIMILAR to the one with which you’re booking. What the heck, I thought. At least it’s a two-star hotel.
This time, Mr. Shatner booked us a reservation at a Sleep Inn in Dublin, VA, which is almost halfway on our journey, within twenty or so miles. It was JUST off 81, so THAT was perfect. It was non-smoking, with two Queen-sized beds, an indoor pool and Jacuzzi, a modest complimentary breakfast, and clean. I paid about twenty-dollars more, but almost half of what I would probably ordinarily pay. The advantage here is to Sleep Inn, however, because my daughter and I liked THIS stay so much, we’ll book with them directly next time around.
The Taco Bell app is pretty cool. This one allows you to place your food order at any time of day, pay for it with your debit card, and just pull up to the window at your convenience and pick up your tacos. I’ve used this one twice, and it really is hassle-free.
Then there are companies that just shouldn’t HAVE apps. They’re not ready for prime time. I used my Subway app last week to order a couple of sandwiches. I hate the process of picking up Subway for the family. You know, THIS person wants cucumbers and no onions. This one wants nine grain honey oat, this one wants white. This one wants … well, you get the picture. Well, with the app, you order everything ahead of time, and, in theory, the sandwiches are assembled and you pick them up, again paid for in advance, on your way home.
That is, if the staff is attentive. The staff that I encountered groused about how no alarm claxons went off when somebody orders online. I got there and stood in line like just about everybody else, and watched, as the sandwich artist glanced at the sheet and assembled my sandwiches. The fact that I had ordered, or frankly that they even HAD an app, seemed like news to them. Oh, sorry. You don’t get the promotional price for two foot-long sandwiches, either, if you order online. That’s just for the people that do it the old-fashioned way. No way to add chips to your order, either, without doing a separate transaction, because chip flavors aren’t included on the app.
Media apps are almost uniformly excellent, and easy to manipulate. Obviously, I’m fond of AccessWDUN, which is a great way to stream our radio stations from wherever I am. I tuned in on my birthday from Mt. Gretna, PA to listen to Bill and Joel abuse me. They did not disappoint. Dr. Charles Stanley’s InTouch ministries app provides easy access to both his radio and television sermons in a nice, intuitive format. IHeart radio allows me to listen to a 24/7 stream of the latest “American Top 40” with Ryan Seacrest, or to go back to REAL music on a channel devoted to Casey Kasem and HIS classic countdowns from the 70s and 80s. TuneIn radio allows me to record radio stations, like the one in central California that runs Wolfman Jack seven days a week.
I’m not sure what the future holds for apps, but I suspect that we will wind up doing less and less on a personal level and more and more on our phones. Don’t get me wrong … I LOVE technology. I don’t like to be anywhere without my Iphone. That said, I’m a people watcher these days, because I’m amazed when I walk into a restaurant, be it fast food or sit-down, and see families eating together … young people dating … even older married couples sitting with each other. Look around the next time you go in and observe how many of them are on their cell phones, playing games, watching cats, and texting people that they’re NOT with. It’s sad really.
It makes me long for the days of Charlie Brown and Linus discussing the days problems behind that non-descript brick wall … “Linus,” Charlie would say … “I just don’t know what to say to that little red-haired girl.” “Don’t worry, Charlie Brown,” Linus replies. “There’s an app for that!”
