This is the power of the iPhone.
In less than two weeks, Brian Dear, the founder of the event discovery Web site Eventful, has seen “a whole new wave of users coming in” — so much so that he predicts that “in the very long term, everybody will be going mobile and the Web will be secondary.”
These new users, of which I am one, are not all coming to Eventful through its popular Web site, which helps more than six million people discover, share, and create events from concerts to dog shows. They’re signing up for Eventful because of the iPhone.
“This is what happens when you offer mobile,” Dear said in a discussion with last100.
By the end of last week, Apple had not provided Dear with specific numbers on Eventful downloads, although the app has consistently ranked among the favorites downloaded by users. In many respects, the number doesn’t matter. The decision to keep developing Eventful for the iPhone has already been made.
“Absolutely we are going to evolve it,” Dear said.
Of all the programs I’ve downloaded and fiddled with, Eventful is one I use nearly everyday. And it’s a far-from-perfect app, as many people point out in App Store ratings. Even so, Eventful demonstrates the power and promise of the iPhone platform because it integrates digital technology into my lifestyle in a fun and productive manner.
Dear, who lives in San Diego, spoke with last100 about developing the application for the iPhone, the challenges he and his team faced, the shortcomings of the Eventful app, and future plans.
“It was by far the most fun software development project I’ve done in years,” Dear said.
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