Here Comes the Bideford People iPhone App!

Here at Bideford People we are very excited to announce the launch of our shiny new iPhone app. Download it for free on http://itunes.com/app/localpeople.

The app will allow you to access Bideford People content wherever you are so you can find out where to go and what to do in Bideford while on the move. Get relevant local news and event information straight from the horse’s mouth as all its contributors (and that includes me and you!) are on the ground updating what's happening all the time.

On top of that, the app has extra clever, handy features; for example you could use the ‘top places nearby’ feature and it will recommend all the best places where you are, right now, wherever you are.

As there are loads of reviews of restaurants, pubs, hotels, tradesmen, shops and services you need never get caught out. It is the equivalent of carrying a huge, opinionated directory in your pocket, as light as your phone!

But in our excitement, we got to thinking, what is Bideford’s take on technology? Are we Bidonions riding on the cusp of the digital mobile revolution? And if not why not? Looking at the growth of other online phenomena, the stats simply astound. Over 200,000,000 searches are made on Google in one day; 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute; £534,000,000 was generated from UK e-retail in one day last year; the number of unique URL’s in Google’s index has exceeded 1 trillion, (I am not going to even attempt the amount of noughts I need for that figure)!

By comparison, downloadable apps by mobile internet is in its infancy, but unlike natural evolution it doesn’t take aeons for the digital embryo to adapt, infiltrate and dominate the species. Mobile phones have been offering richer internet experiences model on model for years, notably by increasing mobile internet speeds through the advent of 3G, and high-speed downloads accessible via mobile broadband. But it took the iPhone to really capture our imagination about what we can do with our handsets, and to spawn the boom of the ‘app’.

Calling on Bideford People, let’s see if we are representative of these stats! Do you already own a new-generation touchscreen smartphone / iPhone? Apparently about 8% of consumers have one, but 16% intend to buy one next time, so if you don’t have one already, do you plan to upgrade next time round to a smartphone? Are you a 25 to 34 male – because if you are apparently you are 134% more likely to have an iPhone than the rest of us! And for everyone that is holding on dearly to their fated old handsets, do you use them to browse the internet or are you happy with gold old fashioned texting and calling? If you are, then cherish it now, because you will soon be in the midst of a mobile revolution.