Very cool to read all your opinions, and probably very representative for the opinion of the entire community. By listing only the winners of the vote I do think some good programs didn’t make the list though (I’m guessing SKTools, iLauncher, PhoneWeaver. Not just because I’m a SBSH fan but also because the general opinion is that SPB P+, Diary, Phonesuite and Weather is pretty comparable to SBSH iL, PB, PhW and PW). But of course I understand that a list of Essentials is a list of programs that everyone should have on their phone. And that means there shouldn’t have to be two programs mentioned in a category since there shouldn’t have to be two programs on a device that do the same, and SPB proves it’s popularity on various occasions.

Therefore I’ll have to say that I really like the way Clinton Fitch does things:
A top 10: http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/clinton/top10-2007/default.asp
And a top 50 where there can be multiple programs in one category. : http://www.clintonfitch.com/top50/

So to be honest, I think that the way you designed the 2007 list does more justice to more programs, and give the new PPC user a better view of which programs he/she should consider.

Just giving some feedback, like you guys often ask.

Anyway, some trends I see:

* There is quite some activity on some fields, and very little on others. Resco Explorer remains the market leader when it comes to file exploring (I haven’t heard about Total Commander in a while?!). On the other hand, when it comes to keyboards and contact applications, a lot of news (and new software) reaches the news blogs.

* Quite some of those new initiatives which turn out to be quite popular are free. (I’m thinking about PCM Keaboard and PCM Contacts here, also RLToday has been very popular early 2007) It’s interesing to think about the dilemma here: go for a free program from a new developer, or pay for a very similar program from a known developer (like Vito Zoomboard). I believe quite some people don’t see the need to get ZoomBoard here if there’s also PCM Keyboard.

* All software seems to be from well known developers, so in the end those smaller newer developers don’t seem to make it to the Essentials list yet. (I never heard of Pocket e-Sword but that it because I’m not religious – the website does say they have over 1 million downloads. As for Evernote, they’re new to the PPC market I believe but they seem to be popular on the PC. I’ve seen the good responses on GiveAwayOfTheDay but it simply didn’t work for me)
Those wellknown developers do know how to make new software popular (I’m thinking CorePlayer, PhoneSuite and MobileShell).

SPM, your points are well taken. I actually waffled for quite some time on the best way to do the list this year since the team had grown so much,. I didn’t want to just toss up everything we wrote down. As I said in the post, that worked fine last year when we only had four guys working on the site. But with 11 team members, it would have been way too much. At the same time, I did want to make sure everyone on the team’s voice was heard. I think the approach I took struck this compromise the best.

A few additional observations:

You are correct that a lot of the big names are heavily represented: Spb, SBSH, Ilium, WebIs, etc… A few smaller companies were mentioned, but did not receive many votes. Down the road, I think it might be fun to do a JAMM Essentials list using only software or under $5 or something like that.

You are also correct about the number of new programs cropping up. I think the SIP category will be vastly different at this time next year.

Also, some of the programs you mentioned as not being represented, were hardly mentioned. Others, like iLauncher, are included on the list. In fact, iLauncher won the most contentious category, Today Screen Plug-ins, which came very close to being a 4 way tie.

I also like Clinton Fitch’s Top 10 reviews. I thought about doing something like that as well, but the JAMM Essentials seems to cover it pretty well.

Thanks for the feedback.

Doug

First, I’m ashamed for mixing up with iLauncher!

Second, now I think about it again, Clinton probably makes up his list on his own so that makes your choice in design very understandable. This is the most honest way to represent your team, but when I consider this list and the previous one, I think the previous one might be more attractive for readers. (But who am I to say this without comments from anyone else, perhaps the majority likes it this way). It’s hard to make the optimal decision on this one. And by the way, what matters in the end is the software titles that are on the list.

I agree with you, SPM that there are pros and cons to both methods. One of the things I liked about last year’s list was that it was much more fluid. At any time throughout the year if we found some new program, we could add it to the list. This year’s list does not really provide that opportunity to add as we go.

But, like I said, with 11 people providing input, this seemed to be the best way of representing the group as a whole without creating something that was completely unwieldy. That being said, I was surprised by how much consensus there was among the team in many categories. In a lot of categories, there would have been little change had I followed last year’s model.

Doug

Spm – Just off the cuff here – but if you ever want us to cover a topic because you don’t think we’ve given it any light (and it should get some) don’t hesitate to let us know (contact page) or email one of us directly. I’ll give you a hint – put a dot in between my first and last name and add a gmail to the end.

We’ll be happy to give something a look…

I just contacted Doug and Peter earlier today about covering a topic that I though might be worth it!

It was a great idea SPM. And one that we will probably be following up on sometime soon.

Doug

That reminds me to get back to that!

SPM, you’re input is greatly appreciated,

I stumbled on this great site while looking for possible replacements for my wallet program. A lot of good information here, and some great programs mentioned. Your list of essentials is very informative.

My comment is that you are very clearly biased toward commercial software, some that doesn’t quite provide good “bang for the buck” — it may be good stuff, but there are free versions that do almost as much (or more). My list of “essentials” includes the following FREE software:
TD Launch (desktop icon launcher)
GSFinder+ (file manager)
Total Commander (file manager and registry editer/coppier)
adbIdeaLibrary (idea outliner with desktop companion — no commericial alternative that I can find)
CryptoCard (“card based” wallet program with desktop companion)
HandyShopper (grocery store shopping list — no commercial alternative that I can find)
TCPMP 0.81RC1Beta (the free Core Media Player that ROCKS)
Minimo (Mozilla based browser)
Using $20 as an average software price, this set of essentials is nearly as good or better than the ones you list, but comes in at over $100 cheaper.

SailingHarry, you are right that there are not very many free apps on this list. But that was not by design. We asked our team which apps they use the most. This year, of course, the composition of our staff has changed considerably. So, I suspect the list will look very different in December.

Doug