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> Notice the .app extension? Did you ever wonder why programs are called apps now? Programs were called apps long before NeXTSTEP existed.

CharlesW 5y ago
> Programs were called apps long before NeXTSTEP existed. Programs were called "applications" long before NeXTSTEP existed, but not "apps". "Apps" was mainstreamed primarily by the iPhone and its App Store ecosystem. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=apps,applications https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=a...
- rleigh 5y ago
  It was mainstream long before that. It was in common use with the Digital Research GEM desktop in the mid '80s (which used a .app suffix for applications), but was not particularly unique to GEM.
  - CharlesW 5y ago
    For the file extension. I did a quick search and all of the GEM ads and articles I could find call them "applications", "software applications", and even "executables".
- bitwize 5y ago
  People called applications apps long before the iPhone or NeXT. The term "killer app" was coined in the early 1980s to mean an application that was so must-have it would sell computers on its own. Typically this was a spreadsheet; VisiCalc was the Apple II's killer app, and Lotus 1-2-3 was the killer app for the IBM PC.
  - SeanLuke 5y ago
    Actually the first use of the term "killer application" (not even "killer app" yet) in print was 1988, in PC Week. See Wikipedia. NeXT's first computers were 1987. "App" however dates from at least 1981. https://www.osnews.com/story/24882/the-history-of-app-and-the-demise-of-the-programmer/ https://www.osnews.com/story/24882/the-history-of-app-and-th...
  - CharlesW 5y ago
    The word "app" existed, sure. But as the "Trends" chart shows it because prominent as the preferred name for executables with smartphones in general (meaning, "small application"[0]), and the iPhone in particular. From my memory that was causation, but I grant that it could've been correlation. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/app#Etymology_1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/app#Etymology_1
handrous 5y ago
Been using computers since DOS 6. "App" was very rarely used, to the point that if you'd ask me to list names for the concept of a computer program I'd probably not have come up with it, before iOS, in my experience.
- foobiekr 5y ago
  “Application” was very common when I was running msdos 2.
  - handrous 5y ago
    Yes, but the shortening of "app" wasn't.

CharlesW 5y ago

> Programs were called apps long before NeXTSTEP existed. Programs were called "applications" long before NeXTSTEP existed, but not "apps". "Apps" was mainstreamed primarily by the iPhone and its App Store ecosystem. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=apps,applications https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=a...

rleigh 5y ago
It was mainstream long before that. It was in common use with the Digital Research GEM desktop in the mid '80s (which used a .app suffix for applications), but was not particularly unique to GEM.
- CharlesW 5y ago
  For the file extension. I did a quick search and all of the GEM ads and articles I could find call them "applications", "software applications", and even "executables".
bitwize 5y ago
People called applications apps long before the iPhone or NeXT. The term "killer app" was coined in the early 1980s to mean an application that was so must-have it would sell computers on its own. Typically this was a spreadsheet; VisiCalc was the Apple II's killer app, and Lotus 1-2-3 was the killer app for the IBM PC.
- SeanLuke 5y ago
  Actually the first use of the term "killer application" (not even "killer app" yet) in print was 1988, in PC Week. See Wikipedia. NeXT's first computers were 1987. "App" however dates from at least 1981. https://www.osnews.com/story/24882/the-history-of-app-and-the-demise-of-the-programmer/ https://www.osnews.com/story/24882/the-history-of-app-and-th...
- CharlesW 5y ago
  The word "app" existed, sure. But as the "Trends" chart shows it because prominent as the preferred name for executables with smartphones in general (meaning, "small application"[0]), and the iPhone in particular. From my memory that was causation, but I grant that it could've been correlation. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/app#Etymology_1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/app#Etymology_1

handrous 5y ago

Been using computers since DOS 6. "App" was very rarely used, to the point that if you'd ask me to list names for the concept of a computer program I'd probably not have come up with it, before iOS, in my experience.

foobiekr 5y ago
“Application” was very common when I was running msdos 2.
- handrous 5y ago
  Yes, but the shortening of "app" wasn't.