When did we start with the “apps”? A slang term for application. We use it to describe all sorts of programs. Applications run programs. Programs are instructions a computer uses to perform a particular function. It seems like whatever you want to do, there is an app for that. There are apps for things you never even thought of!

Having a personal computer in your home has been a thing for about 25 years now. From those early days of AOL to whatever the latest version of Windows happens to be, most people are familiar with computers. We use terms like apps, buffering, streaming and wi-fi hot spots.

Apps became popular with the introduction of the smart phone. Mobile apps. Not all of them will work on your home computer, something I really don’t understand, but am aware of. I’m an android user though, looked down on by the I-phone crowd.

Something that both amuses and annoys me is when using McDonalds drive through, I’m asked if I will be using my mobile app. Hey, I’m in the drive up! I know, I can order, then park in a designated spot and have my food brought to me. Is that supposed to make me feel special? Do I have to give the server a tip?

I still prefer my desktop computer. I like having a regular keyboard on which to type. Those tiny keypads on a phone are difficult for me to manage. I don’t know the thumb thing! I find my apps in the Play Store. I have a few installed on my phone, a compass, an angle finder and GPS.

I wonder if this AI stuff will replace all the apps. If it is truly intelligent it should know all those programs. I am still amazed when I can talk to the remote control on my television and it knows what I’m asking. Well, most of the time it does anyway. Can I tell AI to install an app?

We have made progress I suppose. When I was young an application meant, you were trying to get a job or admitted to college. You had to apply for those things. An expression I heard often was, get with the program. I was always going rouge! My teachers were always saying; you need to apply yourself. I was expected to be the app!

Yes, back in the day you were expected to be the app. You couldn’t just download one from a cloud. You had to get with the program! You were required to apply yourself to the task at hand.

That may have meant looking something up in the encyclopedia or some technical manual. Effort was required. Today, well, not so much. A few clicks, install the app and you’re good to go.

Today teachers have to detect AI instead of the plagiarism we may have used. Not that I ever copied anything straight from the textbook you understand. I suspect teachers have an app for that. They need to “get with the program” as well.