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:

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. My column last week about high-definition TVs generated intense reader interest, and hundreds of emails, many containing questions. So this is an all-HDTV edition of Mossberg’s Mailbox.

At the end of your HDTV column, you said that, after testing a borrowed plasma HDTV, you went out and bought your own HDTV. Don’t leave us hanging. What set did you buy? And do you get a discount?

I bought the same 50-inch plasma set I tested, the Pioneer Elite PRO-1140HD. But I want to emphasize that this is a matter of personal taste (which picture you personally prefer), budget, and the style and size of the room where it’ll be used. Other brands and other technologies are also very good, and some folks might prefer them.

I don’t accept free goods, or even discounts, from companies whose products I review, as that would be unethical. So, I went to a local store and bought the Pioneer at retail, like anyone else.

You didn’t mention a burning issue in the HDTV arena right now: whether to spend the extra money to get a set that can handle the highest resolution, called “1080p”. What’s your view on this issue?

I didn’t mention it because I don’t think it’s an important factor at all. Most HDTV sets max out at a resolution called “1080i,” which is gorgeous and is used by several of the TV networks currently broadcasting in HD. Theoretically, a resolution called “1080p” is even better (I won’t go into the boring techie details of the difference) and it will be used by some new gadgets, like certain game consoles and players that handle the new disk formats battling to succeed DVD. It can also be used by PCs connected to a TV set.

But there is no TV network using 1080p, or planning to use it, anytime soon. Plus, most people can’t tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p, especially at the distances at which people typically sit to view large-screen TVs.

So, unless you are a techie, or a hard-core gamer or videophile — or you plan to use your HDTV mainly as a PC screen — I see no reason to spend a penny extra, or wait a day more, just to get a set capable of handling 1080p. If you like a set for other reasons, and it happens to have 1080p capability, think of it as a bonus. But I wouldn’t make 1080p a major criterion for choosing a set.

You talked about getting HD content via cable or satellite, but I understand you can pluck HDTV shows right out of the air, for free. Is this true?

Yes, it is, for a limited number of channels. In most cities, local affiliates of the major broadcast networks, as well as public-TV stations, beam out special digital channels that carry HD versions of popular shows. These digital channels are also available on cable, but you don’t have to pay a cable bill to view them over the air. In some cases, you can also get over-the-air digital channels from local independent stations.

Many people love over-the-air HDTV, and some say it looks even better than HD programming delivered over cable and satellite.

However, there are some downsides. First, you have to install an antenna. In some cases, this can be a relatively cheap, unobtrusive indoor antenna, but in other cases you may require a roof antenna, or even a motorized roof antenna that rotates. More important, if you rely solely on over-the-air HDTV, you won’t have access to the cable networks, like HBO, ESPN, TNT, Showtime, and Discovery, that are broadcasting movies and TV shows in HD. And you won’t have access to the special cable and satellite sports packages that bring you all the games from all over the country, which look glorious in HD.

* * *

Because of the volume of email I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by email, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com

To find out, my wife, Edie, and I lived for several weeks with a big, beautiful HDTV, the Pioneer Elite PRO-1140HD, lent to us by Pioneer Electronics. It has a 50-inch screen, a long list of features and lists for $5,000, though you can find it for under $4,000 on the Web.

I tested the Pioneer with digital cable service from Comcast, my local cable provider. This service transmits high-definition programs where available and can record them to a digital video recorder (DVR) built into its set-top box. Comcast also has an on-demand feature that allows you to watch certain programs whenever you like.

The test demonstrated why people are so hooked on HDTV. The Pioneer Elite set performed brilliantly and was a joy to watch with HDTV programming. With HDTV, you are not only increasing the size of the picture, but its quality as well. On the Pioneer, colors popped, details I never saw before emerged, and the whole experience was almost cinematic. DVDs looked great, as did content from a computer plugged into the set.

But there is a hitch: Most TV programs aren’t available in HDTV, and these non-HDTV shows can actually look worse on an HDTV set than they do on older, standard TV sets. So do most videotapes. Also, buying a big-screen HDTV carries hidden costs and hassles. You may well need help installing the set. You may also have to switch or upgrade your cable or satellite service, get a new DVD player and buy new furniture.

The Pioneer Elite model I tested happens to be a plasma TV, which is one of the three major types of HDTV sets. It works by stimulating a captive gas with an electrical charge. The other two are LCD, or liquid crystal display, which uses a screen like those on laptop computers; and “microdisplay” sets that project the image onto the screen from the rear of the set, mainly using two technologies: DLP, or digital light processing, and a form of LCD.

Plasma TVs tend to have the blackest blacks and the best ability to be viewed from all angles of a room. Their colors are warm and vivid. And they cost less than LCDs in large sizes. But their screens are more reflective and a bit darker than LCD screens. There is also a slight chance they can suffer “burn-in,” the permanent embedding of an image, like a network logo, if you leave such an image on for a very long time without changing channels.

LCDs are bright, and they are the thinnest and lightest of the HDTVs. But their colors often seem cold and their blacks too gray. Their viewing angles aren’t as good as with plasmas. And in some cases, fast motion can look blurry.

Microdisplay sets typically cost the least, but they are the thickest of the three types. They tend to have limited viewing angles and can display a “rainbow” effect, which causes problems for some people.

Our Comcast service gave us high-definition channels from all the big broadcast networks and some of the major cable ones. We immediately started watching shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Heroes” in high definition, and found they were greatly enhanced. Watching the World Series and NFL games was a great experience, with every clump of dirt, bead of sweat and blade of grass looking so much more real.

The Pioneer also did a great job with an Apple Mac Mini computer we plugged into it, displaying family photos and downloaded videos stored on the Mac.

The big downside was that only a small fraction of programming is high definition. At 8 p.m. on Tuesday night this week, there were just 13 high-definition programs available from Comcast, out of more than 230 total. The on-demand service had a smattering of additional high-definition shows and movies.

And standard TV shows on a high-definition set can look awful. They can be fuzzy. They also typically fill only a portion of the wide screen, with big black or gray bands on the sides. You can eliminate the bands using TV features that stretch or zoom the picture, but these modes either cut off too much or distort people so they look unnaturally short and stout.

Also, we ran into plenty of extra costs and hassles. We had to buy new furniture to hold the TV and all the gadgets that attached to it. We had to replace our DirecTV satellite service with Comcast cable, because the trees in our yard blocked the high-definition satellite signal — which is beamed separately from another position in the sky. The Comcast digital service with high-definition costs more than the company’s standard cable service and its DVR holds only 15 hours of high-definition programming versus 60 hours of standard programming.

Despite all these costs and limitations, we were won over by our HDTV test. After returning the test unit, we went out and bought our own HDTV. We decided that in the slow transition to high-definition programming, there’s now enough content to make HDTV worthwhile. And once you get used to high definition, it’s tough to go back to plain old TV.

Email me at mossberg@wsj.com.

Now, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. is making this audio gratification even more instant. Last month, it introduced the first portable combination XM radio/MP3 player, the $400 Pioneer Inno XM2go. Anyone with this device who likes a song playing on XM can simply press a button and record the entire song onto the player. No computer is required, but you do need an XM subscription, which costs $13 a month.

The $399.99 Pioneer Inno XM2go combines portable satellite radio with a digital music player, but watch out for reception problems.

These recorded songs can’t be transferred to PCs or other players. But they can be bookmarked for purchasing online at Napster’s music store the next time the Inno is plugged into a Windows computer. This purchased version of the song can be used on computers and other devices (but not the Apple Computer Inc. iPod).

The new XM device, made by Pioneer Corp.’s Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., uses flash memory rather than a hard disk, and can store 50 hours of recorded XM Satellite Radio, plus about 8 hours or 150 digital songs copied from a computer. One half of the player is reserved for XM recordings, while the other half is reserved for MP3 or WMA music files. You can switch between the two modes by pressing a button.

The Inno is at the center of a lawsuit filed yesterday by members of the Recording Industry Association of America, who are challenging the legality of the device’s recording feature.

This week, we tested the portable Inno all around town. We liked the device itself, and enjoyed listening to various satellite radio stations on the go. But we were deeply disappointed with its radio reception, which failed in too many places. And we really didn’t like working with the Napster software when we synched the player with our PC. It was a hassle.

Our verdict: adding live satellite radio and the ability to record it onto a device is a good idea, and may appeal strongly to satellite radio lovers willing to pay $13 a month to subscribe. But, for people who just like music, the radio and recording features didn’t seem like reason enough for us to want to buy the Inno over, say, an iPod — especially given the downsides we encountered.

We liked the overall feel of the Inno, and it wasn’t too tough to get the hang of its buttons and functions. It measures 3.7 inches by 2.2 inches by 0.6 inches — just slightly smaller, overall, than a full-size iPod and a little bit thicker — and its 4.5-ounce weight makes it a tad lighter than a 30-gigabyte iPod. A 1.7-inch color screen on the front doesn’t take up the entire surface, and compared to an iPod’s 2.5-inch color screen, its size was more like the one on the tiny iPod Nano, a 1.5-incher.

The back and front sides of the Inno are decorated in cool gun-metal gray. Shiny black edges give it a modern feel, while its stubby antenna resembles that of a smart phone, but thicker and perfectly cylindrical. This antenna is the device’s only means of receiving radio. That’s a breakthrough, since satellite radio usually requires a large separate antenna or a car antenna. Unfortunately, we found the Inno’s little antenna was too weak.

It’s hard to overstate the reception problems that plague the Inno. We lost reception while driving through a short tunnel, walking through a row home and wandering through our office, away from the window. Even in an office with an entire wall of windows, we had to sit right next to the glass to get XM Satellite Radio reception.

Walking around downtown Washington, just a few blocks from the White House and a few miles from XM’s headquarters, the Inno constantly dropped the XM signal, even though Washington, by law, has no office buildings taller than about 12 stories. Walking just a few feet into a Starbucks killed the signal altogether. When we sat down on a bench in a small park, the reception got much better, but still wasn’t perfect. For a device that’s primarily a radio, this is a killer flaw. Of course, you can listen to the Inno’s stash of recorded music during these signal dropouts, but, when the failures are as frequent as ours were, this need to keep switching modes turns a supposedly pleasurable experience into a huge annoyance.

Optional headphones with an antenna disguised in the headpiece can be purchased for an additional $40, and these added slightly better reception, but not much.

A well-designed button on the right side of the Inno powers it on or off when pushed downward, and puts the device on hold when pushed up. Volume controls are just below this button, also on the device’s side. Three buttons line the bottom edge of the color screen — Mode, Play/Pause and Display — and four directional arrows surround an XM select button below these three.

We checked out XM’s 20 categories of music, over 170 stations altogether, by pressing the right arrow button. We paused in the Decades category to listen to “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan on the ’60s station before skipping to Hits where Daniel Powter’s catchy new pop song “Bad Day” was playing on the “Top 20 on 20″ station.

To record “Bad Day” onto our Inno, we pressed the XM button, chose Record and Record Song. A red “REC” icon appeared at the top of the screen, and went away when the song ended. In one case, we were listening to a station when a new song that we wanted to record started before we could press the right buttons. Thanks to the magic of satellite radio, recording automatically started at the song’s beginning, rather than halfway through.

If you’d like, you can schedule times for your Inno to start and stop recording, and these can be set to record on the current day, every day or on a specified date.

When listening to Elton John’s “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” on a romantic music station appropriately named “The Heart,” we opted to Bookmark the song so that it was set aside in a special category of songs for buying when we connected our Inno to our PC. An option called TuneSelect can be chosen while a song or artist is playing; from then on, a message will flash across your screen whenever that artist or song plays anywhere on XM, so you can tune in.

Before synching our Inno with our computer, we used an included CD to load XM + Napster software onto our Dell PC and typed in a special promotional code given to us by Napster for testing.

The Napster software program is confusing, to say the least. Napster offers three types of accounts: Napster Lite, music-store usage with no monthly fee that allows online listening and purchasing of songs à la carte; Napster Membership, a $9.95-a-month program allowing unlimited music downloads onto the PC — but not for transferring to a player; and Napster To Go, a $14.95 monthly membership that allows unlimited music downloading and transferring to a device.

If that doesn’t confuse you, add the fact that because Napster offers music rentals rather than just buying of songs — like iTunes — it considers purchased tracks to be different than downloaded tracks. Overall, your purchased tracks or previously owned tracks (in MP3 or WMA file format) can be transferred to the XM2go. Downloaded (not purchased) tracks can’t be transferred to the XM2go, but they can be transferred to special, more advanced devices with what’s known in techie land as DRM 10 compliance. XM plans to introduce devices with this technology in the future.

The Inno connects to a PC using a standard USB cable, but it must be simultaneously lying in its special sideways dock, which also powers the device. When the Inno is turned sideways in its cradle, its screen automatically rotates, as do its directional arrows. This cradle also has plugs for an additional included antenna and a line out, for using the Inno with a stereo system.

In Napster’s software program, our Inno was identified, as were the songs that we had recorded and bookmarked. Songs recorded from XM can’t be exported from the player, due to copyright laws. Most of the songs we had bookmarked, including Elton John’s tune, had a Download icon next to their track titles.

But instead of seeing a Buy icon next to our bookmarked tunes, we could only purchase songs by right-clicking on tracks and choosing Buy Track since our account type was designed for streaming music rather than buying it. This type of navigational confusion was abundant in the program, and users would easily and understandably be befuddled by what account type they had and what was or wasn’t included in it.

We dragged and dropped songs onto our Inno player without a problem, and they showed up in the MP3 section of the player when we started it up again. We even created playlists, right on the Inno, combining music recorded from XM stations and our own MP3s. Switching between the live XM stations and our MP3s and WMAs was easily done with the Mode button. XM estimates that the Inno’s battery will last for 15 hours in playback mode and five and a half hours in Live XM Mode.

When it’s all said and done, XM’s Inno is fun to use on the go, as long as you’re not underground or in room without windows. But its spotty reception, confusing software and monthly fee make the Inno a no-go, except for hard-core XM fans.

• Email: MossbergSolution@wsj.com