# Oh, the Places Your App Will Go! | KIRUPA
**URL:** https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978
**Category:** programming
**Created:** [August 2, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978 "2017-08-02T02:52:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kirupa](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/kirupa)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978/1 "2017-08-02T02:52:15Z")
When I mention the word _ **app** _, what comes to your mind? If you are like many of us, you are probably thinking of something you install from an app store and run on your mobile device like your phone or tablet. The thing is, the mobile space is only a slice of the larger app-flavored pizza. We have a lot more devices that are capable of running apps these days:
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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at [http://www.kirupa.com/apps/the\_places\_your\_app\_will\_go.htm](http://www.kirupa.com/apps/the_places_your_app_will_go.htm)
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### Author:  [@tbo](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/tbo)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978/2 "2017-08-02T16:44:34Z")
“When I mention the word app, what comes to your mind?”
Im probably totally wrong and haven’t looked this up, but I always felt like apple stole the abbreviation “app” from the old “warez” pirate lingo where the software categories would be called “appz”
Until apple made it almost become it’s own word, I had never once come across “app” outside of that pirate talk where it was quite prevalent.
I would hate to be starting a rumor right now, I’m just saying that’s always been in the back of my mind. I’m sure I can prove myself wrong in a few seconds but I don’t have an app for that
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### Author:  [@tbo](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/tbo)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978/3 "2017-08-02T18:39:14Z")
That’s funny, totally unrelated I just stumbled upon this reddit comment after posting here at lunch time
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### Author:  [@kirupa](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/kirupa)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978/4 "2017-08-04T02:24:46Z")
haha! It is something that probably gained traction with mobile devices. I think iOS and Android called the things you install from their stores as “apps”. Maybe there were others before them as well 😛
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### Author:  [@krilnon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/krilnon)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/oh-the-places-your-app-will-go-kirupa/636978/5 "2017-08-04T04:46:53Z")
> [@tbo](#):
>
> I would hate to be starting a rumor right now, I’m just saying that’s always been in the back of my mind. I’m sure I can prove myself wrong in a few seconds but I don’t have an app for that
Applications in NeXTSTEP had the abbreviation .app in ~1989… and TimBL described the first web browser, [WorldWideWeb](http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/NeXT/Implementation/Features.html), as a NeXT “app” in ~1991 or so. Apple spawned / owns NeXT, so…