Applications. Games. If you pick up a smartphone, whether it's yours or it belongs to someone you know (please don't pick up a stranger's phone, that probably wouldn't go over well depending on the situation), there's a chance you'll probably find plenty of applications or games. Or both, as I've seen over the years. I know plenty of people (Mr. Taylor Martin, for one) who have a ridiculous amount of applications on their device(s) at any given moment, even if those apps or games never get touched.

I've never thought about it myself, because I'm not necessarily one that buys a lot of applications. In truth, there was a time where I wasn't buying any apps, or even mobile games (I know, shocking). I just didn't find the need to. But that's changed, and I find myself buying more applications, and noticing that I'm not actually using the ones I'm buying.

Specifically, while Taylor has plenty of games on his phones that he never buys, I find that I buy productivity apps, or applications in that same vein of thought, use them a couple times and then stick them in a folder. What's worse, is that I'll stick them in a folder that I open all the time because there are other apps that I've grown accustomed to using over time. I'll open my Productivity folder, see that one app I've only ever touched once, and then just keep right on going with whatever I was doing in the first place.

I had a feeling that I wasn't the only one out there, so that's why I'm posing this question. Actually, I'm offering up this question after I had a lengthy conversation (over Twitter) with a few people regarding applications. Most noteworthy though, is the conversation I had about calculators. Yeah, calculators. First, because you get a calculator on your phone right out of the box. Second, because calculator apps aren't free (at least no the ones we were talking about).

I was certainly interested to find out that I wasn't the only one buying these apps, even if I can admit that I'm not buying calculators (not yet, anyway). But I do get the point, or the reason why someone would want to buy these apps. It's because they look good, or feature qualities that are unique and interesting to look at. Even if you only use it every once in awhile, it's still fun to look at. Still fun to use.

So, here I am admitting that I buy applications that I've only ever used once, even if there's nothing really wrong with them. Here's me admitting that, even if I've fought it for years, I can say that I've fallen victim to the app craze, and there doesn't seem to be going back. It doesn't help that both Google and Apple (and the other manufacturers and designers out there) have made it so easy to use apps.

But where do you stand? Do you buy applications just to buy them, just to show them off? Or are you more Spartan about how you get apps, and when you use them? Let me know in the comments below.