Tim O'Reilly says it's time for developers to stop with the frivolous Facebook and iPhone apps, and to focus instead on more important work.

It's a theme with Tim, who writes about life and work on the cusp of tough times:

# Work on stuff that matters: Assuming that the world does go to hell in a handbasket, what would we still want to be working on? What will people need to know? (Chances are good that they need to know these things in a world where we all continue to muddle along as well.)

# Exert visionary leadership in our markets. In tough times, people look for inspiration and vision. The big ideas we care about will still matter, perhaps even more when people are looking for a way forward. (Remember how Web 2.0 gave hope and a story line to an industry struggling its way out of the dotcom bust.)

# Be prudent in what we spend money on. Get rid of the "nice to do" things, and focus on the "must do" things to accelerate them.