Joaquin Miller put this comparison between application-oriented and situational software together that illustrates very well why this situational software not only saves money but sometimes even lives.

You arrive at the hospital for your midnight shift as an emergency room physician.
Yesterday: You go to the nursing station to get a list of the patients that need your attention.	Today: The list of your patients appears on your handheld. Icons show the status of each patient.
You go to the first patient.
Yesterday: You check the clipboard to learn about their current primary complaint.	Today: You tap on the patients name on the handheld and see a summary of her current primary complaint.
You quickly examine the patient.
Yesterday: You flip through papers on the clipboard to find information on outstanding lab orders and any lab results, other significant health problems, drugs they are currently taking, allergies, whether there are any images or charts available, and any other information that might bear on the case. You hope the information on paper is reasonably accurate and up-to-date.	Today: You glance at the summary icons, to see if there are any outstanding lab orders or results or any images or charts ordered or available. You know for sure that the displayed information is no more than a few minutes out of date.
Yesterday: Not finding what you need in the folder, you go to a computer, log into the medical record system, locate the patient and check for allergies; you navigate to the screen for significant health problems and then to the screen for drugs they are currently taking. You switch to the lab system, identify the patient, and check to see if lab results are ready. You use other systems to see whether there are any images or charts available, and if there is any other information that might bear on the case. You return to the patient.	Today: You tap through tabs, which display significant health problems, drugs she is currently taking, allergies, and available lab results. You order an urgent lab test for the first patient and move to the second patient. You ask him a few questions.
Yesterday: You see on the clipboard that that a lab test has been ordered. You go to a computer, log on to the lab system, enter the patient identifier, and check to see if the result is ready. You return to the patient.	Today: You see from the summary icons that some lab test has been ordered. You tap on the icon, and the display shows which tests were ordered and which have results ready. You examine the patient.

Not only does the situational software scenario save a lot of time, it provides much more certainty about the critical decisions that the physician needs to take. Missing a single allergic reaction, for example, can be very serious, and in an emergency room, who has time all the time to check so many different backend systems for every single patient?

This is an example where it is clear that situational software is just a much better paradigm than the paradigm of an application.