Well, well, well, that financial imp at Microsoft–CFO Chris Liddell–pulled a fast one on Wall Street and turned in first-quarter earnings that blew away all estimates and even the whisper numbers.

While revenue and net income were down for the third consecutive quarter, they were not as bad as investors had expected.

Perhaps those Microsoft (MSFT) financial predictions were no good, but the results were a strong sign of recovery at the software giant.

BoomTown liveblogged the morning conference call with Liddell, which took place at 7:30 am PT–thanks for the Kiwi-laced wake-up call, Chris!

(You can see the financial slides of the Q1 performance here.)

7:34 am: “It might have been the bottom of the economic reset,” said Liddell in the opening. “I’m very happy.”

Still, Liddell, who has been a glum goose for many quarters now, could not quite do cartwheels, noting that the economy was “still challenging.”

He also still repeated his favorite term for the market, calling it: “The new normal.”

7:38 am: Other investor guy, whose name I always forget (and who is Bill Koefoed, by the way), got on and went through the numbers. He also sounded deeply relieved and noted that it looked pretty good out there.

Liddell returned and said Microsoft was “well-positioned” to exit the econalpyse stronger than competitors.

Not so bad, although he expected personal computer and hardware sales be weak still and was not promising anything.

The online and search and advertising partnership with Yahoo (YHOO) was also on track, said Liddell.

“In summary, I feel great about how we are executing,” said Liddell, who made sure to give credit to “cost discipline.”

It was nowhere near the strong performances of Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) recently, but allowed Microsoft some much needed breathing room.

7:51 am: Question time!

The first was about when the launch of Windows 7 would start bringing home the bacon.

The next was about “channel inventory build,” which was like asking Liddell to be a soothsayer. “Net positive,” he opined.

The third question was about costs from the transition of the Yahoo deal and the contribution.

Costs will up front and there will be a contribution in the “hundreds of millions.”

Next: The future of cost cuts.

“I see that as the journey that never ends,” said Liddell.

Memo to PR head Frank Shaw: Cancel the truckload of caviar for a big honking party in celebration of these results. Stat!

7:58 am: I missed one question, since it was so boring, as was the answer.

Then a good one came about the deployment of Windows in corporate environments and elsewhere.

“All of the feedback we get so far is positive,” said Liddell, not that he is bragging or anything. “The sales in retail, we are expecting to be very good.”

Another cost question, this time about whether more investments are coming in the years ahead.

No ramping back, thank you very much!

The next question was about the impact of netbooks on the bottom line.

Not bad, but not huge, said Liddell.

What about display advertising online? In line with the weaker market, said Liddell, but it should improve.

8:09 am: PC demand? Liddell notes the “robustness” of the PC, which Microsoft has actually been pooh-poohing over many quarters.

Liddell said he saw better days ahead, perhaps because past ones had been weak, especially business PCs. “That can’t continue forever,” he noted.

A question about Europe. “Relatively weak,” said Liddell, while emerging markets were stronger.

“This calendar year is transition to next calendar year,” said Liddell.

A query about Windows 7 revenue recognition, which comes when Microsoft sells to OEMs.

8:14 am: More on OEMs, who are the big buyers of Microsoft’s operating system software.

Next up: Another question about outlook.

“Generally speaking, we are seeing good adoption of our products,” said Liddell, but the true rebound is coming next year.

The last question is about Windows Live.

It’ll get better, but next year, folks!

Translation, if you imagine Liddell channeling “Annie”: The sun’ll come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun!

Enjoy this lovely video of the classic song:

Microsoft has had a high-profile week, between launching its new Windows 7 operating system and striking real-time feed deals with both Twitter and Facebook.

But Wall Street is not expecting quite as much excitement from the software giant’s first-quarter earnings, which will be announced before the markets open this morning.

Both revenue and profits are expected to be down from the same period a year ago.

So any beating of expectations would be seen as a big deal by investors.

Microsoft (MSFT) will hold a conference call on the results at 7:30 am, which BoomTown will be liveblogging–mostly to enjoy the lilting accent of CFO Chris Liddell.

Analysts are expecting the company to report 32 cents a share on revenue of $12.4 billion. In the same period a year ago, Microsoft’s revenue was $15.1 billion on net income of 48 cents a share.

Microsoft’s execs have been striking a tone of caution for several quarters, largely due to the falloff in sales of personal computers in the wake of the econalypse.

In the last quarter, the company’s income fell 30 percent, for example, and it missed revenue estimates by $1 billion.

There have been no new products of any consequence in the first quarter, although Windows 7–which has been well-received so far–is likely to boost results in the months ahead.

Office 2010 is also coming out in the first half of this fiscal year, which should also add to a better future performance.

BoomTown is here at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Wash., where a panoply of top execs from the company is giving a full day of presentations to a roomful of Wall Street analysts and media folks at its annual Financial Analyst Meeting.

First up, as you might imagine, is CEO Steve Ballmer, who is as bouncy and braggy as I have ever seen him, probably because he is fresh from getting his mitts on a long-sought-after prize–the search business of Yahoo (YHOO).

But, while the media and investors think Microsoft (MSFT) made out well in the online search and advertising deal, the opinion about Yahoo’s side of the deal has been not so positive.

Actually, tragic, with Yahoo shares down another five percent today already, after plummeting 12 percent yesterday. Look out below!

Thus, Ballmer to the rescue!

“This is the one that stuns me, that people haven’t figured it out,” said Ballmer, pointing out that Yahoo cut costs and gets to keep revenue. “It’s sort of, like, unbelievable.”

Believe it, Steve, especially since everyone thinks Microsoft pulled a fast one on Yahoo.

Otherwise, Ballmer gave a relatively upbeat speech about the software giant, even after a tough year for Microsoft, due to the weak economy and the fall-off of sales of personal computers.

Ballmer had computers on the brain, especially those of competitors, like Apple (AAPL), which was popular with the audience.

“We have low share, by the way, in the investor audience. I can see the Apple logos versus the PC logos,” he joked. “Our share is lower in this audience than the average audience. Don’t hide it. I’ve already counted them. I have been doing that since we started talking.”

I wonder if Big Brother, oops, Ballmer, also took note of my iPhone and browser open to Google (GOOG) search.

As is part of the reliable Ballmer act, along with Apple-bashing, there was Google-bashing, Linux-bashing and general Anybody-But-Microsoft-Bashing.

But, bullies, be warned! There will be no more Yahoo-bashing from you or Microsoft–well, on the record, at least!–or you’ll apparently have to answer to He-Man Ballmer.

The fun never stops at Microsoft, it seems.

Well, not fun–more like a long march of khaki-clad Softies.

They will be on display bright and early this morning at the company’s annual Financial Analyst Meeting, a cavalcade of top execs at the tech giant blabbing away.

BoomTown will be there covering it in person, natch!

The Microsoft management smorgasbord includes:

CEO Steve Ballmer, COO Kevin Turner, Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach, Online Services President Qi Lu, Microsoft Business President Stephen Elop, Servers and Tools President Bob Muglia, Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie and CFO Chris Liddell.

I am betting that most of the focus at the gathering, which is being held at the worldwide HQ of Microsoft (MSFT) in Redmond, Wash., will likely be on two major events over the last week–its billion-dollar revenue miss in its fourth quarter and its just-born search and online advertising deal with Yahoo (YHOO).

The former, of course, was bad news for Microsoft, as it continues to signal weakness in its core operating system software and server businesses, due to lower demand for personal computers in the midst of the econalypse.

The latter was good news, of course, since Microsoft seemed to score a coup in nabbing the search technology business from Yahoo with no big upfront payments.

I have a lot of questions about both these issues, as will the crowd of reporters and Wall Street sharpies at the FAM, which is what they call the meeting here.

There could even be be plenty of answers, especially given that the entire leadership of Microsoft will be there.

Here is a link to a live Webcast of the FAM event, if you want to join the party too.

How low can Microsoft go?

Very low, it seems, in announcing really bad fourth-quarter earnings, missing Wall Street revenue estimates by an astonishing $1 billion.

Talk about a game of extreme limbo.

After the market close Thursday, the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant reported that fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell to $3.05 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $4.3 billion, or 46 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue for the period ended in June fell 17 percent to $13.1 billion. Wall Street had been looking for earnings of 36 cents a share on $14.37 billion in revenue, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Online advertising revenue took a big hit, decreasing $86 million or 14 percent, to $529 million, as the display advertising business got hard hit.

No surprise–Microsoft (MSFT) shares have been taking a beating in after-hours trading.

BoomTown liveblogged the earnings call.

2:32 pm PDT: The conference was kicked off and Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell–whose jaunty New Zealand accent I never tire of–came on right away, pointing out the very obvious bad news in several different ways, although also trying to find some kind of silver lining.

The quarter, he said, “marks the end of one of the most difficult [periods], but also most encouraging.”

The darkness has a dawn, he noted: “In my mind, we are a stronger company than we were a year ago…but we need to lift our game to a new level in 2010.”

You can say that again!

So Liddell did, saying that “there are some signs that we have at least seen the worst” of the econalypse, and “looking forward, we do not expect trading conditions to get worse.”

Well, how could they?

2:35 pm PDT: Microsoft’s investor relations guy went over the numbers. Crappy results, but meaningful cost savings.

Read the official press release here.

2:48 pm PDT: Liddell came back on and he said this would be one of the most “interesting” years, especially due to a spate of new product rollouts coming, such as Windows 7.

He did some forward-looking, talking about a variety of arenas at Microsoft, from the games business to its product launches to tax rates.

Microsoft has, despite the economic turmoil, a great balance sheet in terms of cash–with over $30 billion.

I think I found a gold lining.

2:56 pm PDT: Question-and-answer time.

The first was about spending on personal computers, which hit Microsoft badly on the downside, said Liddell.

But, as a refresh cycle kicks in, he noted that average selling prices will go up.

It would eventually get “better,” which Liddell pronounced, bitter.

Irony alert!

The next question was about margins. Microsoft has tried to cut costs, said Liddell, although it would never completely offset the bad economic conditions. And he was not making promises.

A follow-up on buying back more Microsoft stock. Nope, because “we’re still not sure we’re out of the woods.”

The next question was about what customers are saying about the Windows 7 upgrade and about server shipments.

No surprise, but server shipments are weak. “We don’t see a lot of pent-up demand in that area,” said Liddell.

As to PCs and Windows 7, he said he has more hopes of people being more likely to start to move over. Or, at least, prepare to do so.

“Then, you start to get into a much more virtuous cycle,” said Liddell.

A question on whether expenses can be slowed more.

Sorry, analysts! Nope.

Another question on looking at PC-refreshing. We’ll see, said Liddell.

Another expense question. Hey, analysts, you might want to stop asking since Liddell is not going to suddenly say Microsoft is lopping off more employees–at least, not right now!

Plus, there are those pricey upcoming product launches, said Liddell, which is going to take some dollars.

“There are a series of relatively small items, which add up,” he said.

3:09 pm PDT: An annuity question. Zzzzzzzzz.

Analysts continued to try to get Liddell to predict when things were going to take off again and return to the golden times when Microsoft was a regular financial powerhouse.

It was admirable that he refused to take the bait and maintained his tone of semi-doom and lessening-gloom.

“I would not promise that it is going to be significantly better,” said Liddell.

3:18 pm PDT: A question about the latest launch of Office in 2010 and its impact on financials.

Liddell said he did not see a significant impact until 2011.

The next question was also one on revenue: “Is revenue going to grow?” asked one analyst in a kind of desperate-sounding way.

Liddell said Microsoft would be watching costs, which would help. As to revenue, which is less controllable, he could not say.

3:22 pm PDT: Although there have been no queries about Microsoft’s discussions with Yahoo (YHOO) about a search and online advertising partnership–which will cost the company a pretty penny, if struck–there was a question about Google (GOOG) and its Chrome operating system.

“We still believe that people will want a client and an Internet-based experience,” said Liddell.

Translation: Google is a mouse that roared!

The final question was about how various geographies are doing. Asia and emerging markets are a place for growth, said Liddell, followed by North America, especially relative to Europe and Japan.

But, the tone of the earnings call? Economically speaking, it’s still a small world after all.

Yahoo and Microsoft are still seriously talking about a search and partnership deal, never-ending discussions that might or might not come to fruition. But most investors will be focused on real results this week, as both tech giants report quarterly earnings.

But, after a ho-hum performance last week from Google (GOOG), Wall Street is not expecting much from either, as the econalypse continues to take its toll on financial performance.

Yahoo (YHOO) will report its second-quarter earnings at 2 pm PDT tomorrow, while Microsoft (MSFT) will report on Thursday at 2:30 pm PDT.

The last quarter was weak for Yahoo, due to the depressed online advertising market, which is its biggest business.

And Wall Street is expecting more of the same, although perhaps with some signs of recovery and improvement after major cost cuts at the Silicon Valley icon by CEO Carol Bartz.

According to a round-up averaged by Thomson Reuters (TRIN), analysts think Yahoo will have revenue of $1.14 billion and earnings of eight cents a share, not including special charges due to recent layoffs and taking out commissions paid to advertising partners.

A search deal, if struck, could have a dulcet impact on Yahoo’s stock, which has been up strongly in the quarter.

And the industry is also hoping for some bump from the introduction of Yahoo’s redesign of its front page, code-named Metro, which it has been testing for a dog’s age now and will debut soon.

Shares of Microsoft have also been doing well recently, although it is not expected that any search deal will have much impact on its stock or, really, its actual business.

Search is a very small part of Microsoft’s portfolio, despite all the focus on its innovative new Bing search service. Instead, as always, the Redmond, Wash.-based company is squarely dependent on the performance of its dominant software products, Windows and Office.

Last quarter, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell was very grumpy about the economic outlook and it is likely to be a repeat performance on Thursday, albeit with some encouraging signs of the lessening of the decline.

Still, analysts expect Microsoft to get hit from the continued weak sales of personal computers, which are chock full of its software.

On average, according to Thomson Reuters, analysts think Microsoft will have revenue of $14.38 billion in its fourth quarter, earning 36 cents a share. That’s off just over 10 cents in earnings from last year’s 48 cents per share.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview that Walt Mossberg did with Michael Dell, the founder of the once-high-flying computer company who has returned as its CEO. Dell was forced to resume the role in 2007 after changing market conditions caused the company to falter and competition from Apple (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Sony (SNE) increased.

The video of the interview is in three parts, all of which I have posted this week.

In this third part, Dell talks about longtime efforts at Dell (DELL) to push green initiatives in the personal computer industry and smaller-sized computing devices versus mobile phones.

Dell then takes questions from the audience about the blogosphere, Dell marketing efforts versus Apple, fist-fighting chances versus Steve Jobs (Dell can take him, he claims!) and cloud computing.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview Walt Mossberg did with Michael Dell, the founder of the once-high-flying computer maker who has returned as CEO. Dell was forced to resume the role in 2007 after changing market conditions caused the company to falter and competition increased from other makers of personal computers, including Apple (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Sony (SNE).

The video of the interview is in three parts, all of which I will post this week.

In this first part, Dell talks about the previous appearance at All Things Digital by former Dell CEO Kevin Rollins and his contention that research and development were unneeded, how Dell (DELL) stumbled and is now trying to right itself and the company’s new focus on fashion, design and distribution.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s Part 2 of 4 of an interview Walt Mossberg did with Sony Chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer. (I am posting one video part of the discussion with Stringer every day this week, starting yesterday and concluding Friday.)

Sony (SNE) has been under enormous pressure to innovate and compete better in all its many businesses, and the consumer electronics giant still has not proved that it can knit them all together into a cogent whole.

In this video, Stringer talks about the next direction for the PlayStation gaming business, Blu-ray discs, the impact of digital distribution, digital changes in the movie industry, personal computers and the “joy of craplets.”

BoomTown is back from a seasick cruise vacation in the wilds of Alaska–official sightings: lots of icebergs, 16 glaciers, a passel of jellyfish and starfish, four lumberjacks, three orcas, two seals, one otter, no moose or bears and, yep, one Republican Vice Presidential candidate’s lovely house in Juneau–just in time for school.

Or, more precisely, a little schooling for some of the tech companies that I cover in a mildly obsessive-compulsive manner.

All of them, I predict, are in for a news-filled fall.

That’s right, more Facebook employee hijinks! More BMOC-battling between Microsoft and Google! More Yahoo trying its hardest not to look like so much of a loser (Keep trying, Jerry–release your inner head cheerleader!).

Thus, here is a rundown of what to expect and also what some of those companies need to focus on over the next several months.

YAHOO: Simply put, time is running out for the languid stylings of Yahoo (YHOO) management, whom I hope have been ferreting away since the controversial annual meeting at the start of August on a plan to jack up revenues and profitability and pronto.

Unfortunately, many employees I have talked to recently still report a disturbing lack of urgency on the part of the company, whose stock has sat too close to $19 a share for too long now.

But, as many have previously observed, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has only a few months to prove he can light a fire under the company and be the leader he has so often promised he can be.

Job one: Cuts, cuts and more cuts is my guess to get Yahoo more focused on its core businesses–content aggregation and display advertising.

After that, it’s wishin’ and hopin’ the outsourcing online ad search deal with Google starts in October as expected and actually yields significant results.

If it does not, it’s bottoms up for the current regime.

MICROSOFT: Is it too much to ask that one of the most powerful tech companies on the planet, with tens of billions of dollars at its disposal at any one time, with enough innate aggressiveness to scare a hungry bear away, and with a legion of techies the size of the a small army, to settle on a truly successful Internet strategy after–oh, let’s count–more than a decade?

But, hey, I’m just asking.

Microsoft (MSFT) must, first of all, pick a digital chief, which it promised to do after the departure of longtime exec Kevin Johnson.

That was almost six weeks ago, but what with summer vacations, moving with due speed must be tough. (BoomTown’s bet is that Microsoft execs Brian McAndrews or Yusuf Mehdi are most likely to get the nod, as outsiders have had a harder time fitting in.)

Then the company has to decide its overall strategy to make big moves in the online ad and search space, where Microsoft is a very small player as a distant No. 3 to market leader Google.

Also, there is this annoying new parry by Google (GOOG) in the browser space, where Microsoft reigns, and the inroads being made by Apple (AAPL) in the personal computer (and, most critically, consumer mindshare) space.

Also, pick an online brand, once and for all, please. Live? MSN? MSN Live?

GOOGLE: Oh, aren’t those sprites over at the Googleplex so clever by releasing information about Google’s new browser, called Chrome, in comic book form?

Look, I am not a sourpuss, and I like the comic book.

But the company might be too clever by a half these days, I would say, if it does not show it can perform in other arenas with as much oomph as it does in its core online search ad business.

Of course, that’s kind of like saying five years ago that Microsoft better find a business as good as its lucrative Windows franchise.

But today the writing on the wall makes it more clear that the software giant is under siege, as never before, on multiple fronts.

While Google now mints money and has become scarily powerful in its grip over the entire Internet economy, I think it is only a matter of time before increased government scrutiny, worried competitors and partners, and a simple matter of corporate inertia and innovation exhaustion start to take some shine off of Google’s chrome (pun intended).

I still expect Google to keep on trying out its various schemes, from green tech to energy to–who knows?–space travel.

Nonetheless, Google must be careful as it grows not to step on too many things, including its own oversized feet.

Of course, the whole company will probably have blasted itself off to the planet it came from or will have replaced the human race with pods before any trouble starts.

But it is not so hard to imagine future life for Google will not be as side-splittingly hilarious as it is today.

FACEBOOK/MYSPACE: There are three basic issues for both companies, which are like the Goofus and Gallant of the social-networking world (and I am not saying which is which, either, because they are ever-changing).

First, there is the question of how much more they can grow their market share. While Facebook has been on the tear over the last year that MySpace was on the previous year, both desperately need to expand internationally and quickly to keep up those growth rates.

In addition, innovation of features and offerings remains paramount if the pair are to keep audiences currently using social networks interested and engaged.

(I know I am not as enamored with either as much as I previously was as a consumer, although I am, in Internet terms, 463 years old.)

Facebook just released a new platform and design and MySpace is about to unveil what looks like an interesting music service, but it’s an ongoing arms race to be sure.

More importantly, both must begin to turbocharge the social-advertising market in innovative ways and really start making some serious dollars.

While MySpace and Facebook are relying on guaranteed ad deals with Google and Microsoft, respectively, less and less, as they should, both must build substantial ad businesses for the long term.

That, of course, is the key issue. One distinct possibility for either or both is a sale or IPO (Facebook) or a spinoff (MySpace).

AMAZON: I have not studied the online retail powerhouse as closely as I used to (but I will be doing that this year, as promised).

Still, here is my thimble-sized take so far:

Love the Kindle e-book reader, think it is innovative and headline-grabbing, but it is simply not a huge or very profitable business at this juncture.

I am more interested in how deeply, quickly and profitably Amazon (AMZN) can push into the much larger business of digital distribution of all kinds of content.

Also, how it can even more efficiently sell more physical products. First and foremost, Amazon is a retailer, and how well it sells is what makes it successful.

WEB 2.0: Well, there are 3,265 Web 2.0 companies out there with valuations of $500 million.

Okay, I exaggerate. It’s 2,730.

All these cannot sell to the big boys. All cannot live by advertising revenues alone. And all these cannot become real, standalone businesses, although many can.

In other words, shakeout!

Thankfully, since few of these companies have been able to go public, as in the Web 1.0 era, it will be the venture investors who suffer (not the venture capitalists, of course, who always get paid).

It will be very interesting to see how it does shake out though, as there have been some really terrific and innovative ideas to bubble up from start-ups in this cycle.

Still, make no mistake, it is a cycle and the wheel always, always turns round.

But no matter the karma to come, let’s keep in mind the singing messages from one of the wisest movies ever made–which, it goes without saying, people, is the original “High School Musical”: We’re all in this together.

OK, this is not true of the blogosphere in any way whatsoever because we just love a good fight and carnage. But all you techies are just like one big rollicking high school.

To remind you, here is a video of the whole gang from “HSM,” including the pure genius of Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay, singing “We’re All in This Together.”

(And even better, the trailer of “HSM3: Senior Year,” which comes out–psyche–Oct. 24, below it.)

(And a big shout-out to Louie Swisher, who heads to the big time of first grade today. For my six-year-old start-up, I predict a thrilling year of reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.)

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

Someone get a dose of Ritalin stat to the noisy but deeply misguided critics who took news of the huge number of downloads of apps for the Apple (AAPL) iPhone and immediately concluded it was just not good enough.

Thus, as reported today in The Wall Street Journal, 60 million downloads in 30 days–mostly for free apps, but with about $30 million in revenue, and a runway of three million more new iPhones out there too–is a chance to talk about how it all is just so unexciting and how the apps market is officially saturated?

Am I missing something here? One would assume that were these pundits pioneers, they would get to Ohio and declare that the going farther west held very little promise, thank you very much!

Wrote TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld:

The question is how many apps can one person really manage before becoming overwhelmed. While the initial impulse is to download as many apps as possible to try them out, there is a limit to how many apps you can juggle on your iPhone. It is not much different than a PC. You have tons of apps, but how many do you actually use on a regular basis? For most people, that number is probably no more than ten apps, and on a daily basis, maybe three or four, tops.”

Yes, that personal computer thing has been such a disappointment for us all and a real failure in spurring the creation of a plethora of multi-billion-dollar software makers, hasn’t it?

In actuality, while there is obviously going to be an initial period of frantic trying-out of apps and a fall-off of regular usage, the entire point is that a useful and important platform is being developed here.

Stlll, GigaOm’s Om Malik talked to new iPhone analytics company Pinch Media and managed to find lemons in the lemonade:

Using the caveat that only a few app makers were using the Pinch Analytics library, [Pinch's Founder Greg Yardley] pointed out that as per their data, the ratio of free downloads to paid downloads is at least 10 to 1. He also said that the pace of downloads is slowing, which is expected because the early rush is behind us. According to data collected by Pinch Media, on average, less than 20 percent of an application’s overall unique users return to an application each day. Yardley also pointed out that people are using the apps for just under five minutes at a time, on average. The majority only use the applications once per day; the average number of uses per day is around 1.2.

Looks like I am not the only one who is getting bored with some of the more blah apps. Phew!”

Of course, Malik and others will not like each and every app, but that is not exactly a surprise; nor should it be the focus.

As Apple CEO Steve Jobs correctly noted to The Journal:

“Phone differentiation used to be about radios and antennas and things like that. We think, going forward, the phone of the future will be differentiated by software.”

Exactly. This is less about the iPhone, than it is about all mobile phones, going forward.

But, because of the iPhone’s trailblazing, they will be easier to use, because of apps and multi-touch and a much richer multimedia experience.

That market will thus require a lot of apps, some of which will work and some of which will flop.

As I wrote about the popularity of the third-party apps and Apple’s iTunes App Store:

That’s because Apple has built a platform for adults.

Like many, I have downloaded dozens of iPhone third-party apps over the last several days.

And, unlike what one can discover on the other hot apps platform–namely Facebook–they are uniformly superb, lovely, useful and fun in a really nonjuvenile way. …

I think you would not say so after looking over a lot of what is available at the App Store on iTunes.

Lots and lots of the apps there are games, of course, which are the most popular.

But what amazingly clever games, like MotionX Poker with the delightful rolling dice, or the humming swish of PhoneSaber (totally silly, but in a profound manner that Vampire-biting on Facebook will never achieve).

And the list of useful stuff–Pandora Radio, Starmap, WeatherBug, Evernote and WHERE–is long and growing longer, and these seem to enjoy as much prominence and popularity as the sillier stuff.

In addition, the ability to truly use other Web services in a mobile setting–from Photobucket to Yelp to AIM to the New York Times–makes the iPhone an even more useful device to me.

And for each of the apps I can also imagine various monetization schemes that now make a lot more sense since the iPhone platform enhances them with mobility and simplicity.”

Or, as the cliché goes: “The Plains are covered with the bodies of pioneers.”

But some of them, of course, made it to California.

The rest, as they also say, is history.

Speaking of which, here is a video of AllThingsD.com’s Co-Executive Editor Walt Mossberg discussing the iPhone’s significance at the Aspen Ideas Festival in July, in a short snippet from his talk there: