Does the iPhone Need Help? - Page 2

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More and less than Dummies

Bove is no stranger to helping computer users. He's written numerous articles and help titles including some of the popular "… for Dummies" books, the most recent being iPod & iTunes for Dummies with co-author Cheryl Rhodes.

He says the Dummies books can be a good basic reference, but may be best used to get an overview of a broad topic like digital photography.

"I'm on a mission to improve the way tips, techniques, and how-to information are distributed by authors to readers for the benefit of both," said Bove.

He describes Tony's Tips as a first step in his effort to establish a different way of distributing information on handheld devices. "Authors can create these products themselves; sell them directly to people and establish direct feedback loops with their readers, and also continually update easily so the content is never out of date."

He also argues authors can charge less (like the $2.99 for his program) than a book would cost and still make a decent profit. "Authors and publishers can invest in marketing and promotion rather than spending on paper publishing, distribution and having to re-spend every time the book need to be updated," he said.

A match with Wikipanion

If Tony's Tips represents a new kind of handheld publishing, the story of how it came to market is also less than conventional. Bove said he had the idea for a help product for the iPhone when it came out in 2007, but his plans went into high gear when he came across Wikipanion which gives iPhone users a direct connection to formatted content from Wikipedia.

He contacted Wikipanion's creator, Robert Chin, and the two collaborated on Tony's Tips. Using a similar engine to Wikipanion, Chin designed an online repository for all of Bove's tips that can be readily updated for iPhone users. "It's like a one-way wiki that we can update any time there's new information on the iPhone," said Bove.

Even though the two live in San Francisco, Bove said he contacted Chin by email and that's how they conducted all their work and exchange of ideas.

"We didn't even use the phone, I didn't meet Robert till we had dinner when the beta of Tony's Tips was ready," Bove recalled. "It's funny, we hadn't committed to anything, not on paper, not even on a napkin. It's the most virtual I've every worked with anyone, but that's the age we live in."