Twitter has a problem.In fact, it has several problems. On the one hand, its iconic 140-character limit has helped make the service popular and easy to use. On the other hand, many tweeters desperately want to say more than they can squeeze into those 140 characters. And on the third hand, Twitter continues to struggle monetizing its vast user base.A simple formula to save Twitter
Fortunately, I have an immodest proposal designed to solve all three problems in one fell swoop. And all it takes is a single, relatively simple formula.Ready? Here goes:If Twitter users want to exceed the 140-character limit, all they have to do is pay for the privilege. But instead of a flat fee, my clever formula works to maximize all of the important values.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Professional sports teams around the world—including the NBA’s Golden State Warriors—are working furiously to leverage all kinds of technology, from mobile connectivity and social media to player analytics and augmented reality. But according the Warrior’s vice president of marketing and digital, Kenny Lauer, it will be at least two to five years before virtual reality (VR), perhaps the most exciting new development, will achieve widespread adoption.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google Glass was supposed to be a device that made augmented reality (AR) into a viable, useful, popular technology. But we all know how that turned out: Instead of inspiring people to see the world in new ways, Google Glass convinced everyone that AR was a useless, awkward, socially invasive technology of interest to only so-called “glass-holes.”+ Also on Network World: How Google Glass set wearable computing back 10 years +Instead, a silly smartphone game for kids is doing what Google Glass failed so miserably at: making AR fun and involving, if not exactly useful.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Not long ago, I wrote a post about net neutrality, agreeing with the U.S. appeals court ruling that broadband internet access was no mere luxury, but a crucial utility—like running water or electricity—and needed to be regulated as such.
It seems now that I didn’t go nearly far enough. The United Nations Human Rights Council recently passed a resolution calling unfettered internet access a basic human right.
+ Also on Network World: Why internet access is a modern necessity, not a luxury+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
You’ve probably never used Facebook Paper, the social networking giant’s beautiful and innovative newsreader for iOS. And now you’ll never get the chance because Facebook has removed Paper from the App Store and will shutter it completely on July 29.That’s not surprising because even after debuting to well-deserved critical acclaim in 2014, Paper never got a big promotional push and never achieved widespread popularity. It didn’t help that Facebook’s Creative Labs, the team behind Paper, was shut down late last year. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This whole “tech-companies-think-big-with-plans-to-build-entire-cities” thing is getting out of hand.Earlier this year, I reported on (OK, ridiculed) Google’s silliest moonshot, a plan by Google's parent company, Alphabet, to create Project Sidewalk, a city with hundreds of thousands of residents, intended to act as a proving ground for new technology. I asked “what could possibly go wrong” with a plan like that? I was thinking, well, just about everything.+ Also on Network World: Google’s biggest, craziest ‘moonshot’ yet+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For me and most people I know, internet access is a basic requirement of modern life. It’s not an optional luxury, like cable TV (and I don’t want to hear how Game of Thrones is a necessity, too) or heated floors or a 24-hour doorman.For me, internet access is right on par with electricity (in fact, internet access is one of the most important uses of electricity) and hot-and-cold running water. Like more and more people around the globe, I depend on fast, reliable internet access to do my job, stay in contact with my friends and family, keep up to date on the latest news and information, and run the day-to-day routines of life. I choose where to live and where and how to travel with one eye peeled for internet access, and I willingly pay a pretty penny every month for the fastest, best service I can find.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Modern computer and internet technology is amazing, allowing us to do an incredible number of things that simple weren’t possible before, both individually and as part of larger organizations.But anyone who works with computer and mobile devices knows that everything isn’t perfect. Too often, computer systems are frustratingly hard to use. And now, the Nielsen Norman Group has identified a new problem stemming from sub-optimal user interfaces: computer-assisted embarrassment.Earlier this month, Susan Farrell described the phenomenon this way: “Smart devices have invaded our world and inserted themselves in almost every context of our existence. Their flaws and faulty interactions are no longer only theirs—they reflect badly on their users and embarrass them in front of others.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Normally, I’m a huge skeptic of big-bucks tech mergers. But I’m 100 percent on board with Microsoft’s $26.2 billion surprise acquisition of LinkedIn, announced earlier this week.+ Also on Network World: Microsoft scoops up LinkedIn for $26.2B in cash +Why? Because as I see it, merger success isn’t usually based on technology fit or market positioning or trivia like that. Instead, most of the time it all hinges on the compatibility of corporate culture and values, and Microsoft and LinkedIn are eerily similar those regards—like twin sons from different mothers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple’s highly anticipated World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) always delivers a strong shot of adrenaline to the company’s software and products. And those upgrades were present in abundance at the 2016 conference.In the past, though, Apple has sometimes used WWDC to introduce dramatic new products and services and address the biggest problems on users’ minds. I didn’t see much of that this time around.Don’t get me wrong. Apple did what it had to do at WWDC. The company addressed many of its competitive shortcomings and product lapses, upgrading key components across virtually its entire product line.+ More on Network World: FIRST LOOK: What happened at Apple’s WWDC +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Imagine you’re a parent, living with your family in a quiet suburban subdivision. With very little traffic, your kids happily play in the street in front of your house. And then one day, construction begins on a distant thoroughfare, and suddenly hundreds of cars are racing down your formerly sleepy side street seeking to avoid the backup. And those cars didn’t arrive there randomly, they were sent there by traffic and navigation apps like Google’s Waze.For increasing numbers of people around the country, there’s no need to imagine this scenario, they’re already living it. And it brings up a couple of important questions: Who’s fault is this problem, and what can—and should—be done about it? The answers, unfortunately, aren’t simple.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Net neutrality—the idea that carriers should not be allowed to provide preferential treatment to certain kinds of content—is a heavily politicized topic. With patriotic fervor on both sides of the aisle, last year’s FCC Open Internet rules pleased proponents and enraged opponents of the concept. (Several groups of carriers are suing the FCC over the rules, but the cases have yet to be resolved.)Zero ratings and usage caps
But the reality seems to be that clever moves and creative definitions by carriers and content providers are increasingly making the FCC rules moot. While making efforts to avoid technically or obviously breaking the letter of the law, carriers and content providers are combining zero ratings and usage caps—neither expressly outlawed by the FCC—to get around the intent of net neutrality regulations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Believe it or not, back in the 1990s, a lot of people thought CD-ROMs were going to the change the world.I was one of them. I was absolutely convinced that titles like Total Distortion, The Daedalus Encounter, Xplora 1: Peter Gabriel’s Secret World and Charlton Heston’s The Bible were going to redefine entertainment and information retrieval.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
There’s an old canard that if you ask market researchers about the future of a specific new technology, they’ll pretty much always tell you that it will be a $10 billion market in 10 years. Given that anything from tinker toys to tater tots seems en route to being a $10 billion market, it makes sense to take optimistic market predictions with a hefty pile of salt. But when you hear numbers at the scale of the latest report from IDC concerning intelligent connected systems—sometimes known as the Internet of Things—you have to pay attention.Trillions, with a T
That’s because we’re not talking billions, tens of billions, or even hundreds of billions of dollars. We’re talking trillions, with a “t.” More than $2.2 trillion in just four years, according to IDC's Worldwide Embedded and Intelligent Systems 2015-2020 Market Forecast. Now, that is real money!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Remember a few years ago when everyone and his brother was scrambling to build a mobile app in a frantic gold rush to get rich quick? Well, there was plenty of real gold in them thar virtual hills, but as in most gold rushes, only few people actually struck it rich.Similarly, over time the nimble advantages of the early online prospectors have been overtaken by the giant companies that now largely own the digital world.At least, that’s my takeaway from IDC’s new Worldwide Mobile Applications Forecast, 2016-2020 study. According to the IDC research, “mobile device users installed nearly 156 billion mobile applications worldwide in 2015, generating $34.2 billion in direct (non-advertising) revenue.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Way back in the old days—say, five minutes ago—if you wanted to take advantage of what a country had to offer, you had to actually go there. But in the age of “Everything as a Service,” physically locating yourself in the country you want to “reside” seems so old school.
At least, that seems to be the rationale behind Estonia’s efforts to offer something called “e-residency.” As Taavi Kotka, Estonia's CIO, explained in Business Insider last week, "It’s called CaaS. There’s SaaS. We’re Country as a Service.”Estonia is cooler than you think
Here’s the deal. If you didn’t know—and there’s really no big reason you should have—the Republic of Estonia is a tiny but technically advanced Baltic country of just 1.3 million people. According to Wikipedia, “Estonia is often described as one of the most internet-focused countries in Europe,” and it “boasts “an advanced, high-income economy and high living standards. Unfortunately, the population has been shrinking for decades.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Nine out of 10 developers are likely or very likely to boost their use of containerized applications in the coming year, according to a new survey of 300 developers by Shippable.“Companies are realizing the productivity and flexibility gains they were expecting, and use of container technology is clearly on the rise,” said Shippable CEO Avi Cavale in a statement.Those are optimistic words, and almost 90 percent seems like a strong vote of confidence for containers such as Docker and others, validating the intense hype the technology has generated in the last couple years. Perhaps that’s why more than half of developers (52 percent) told Shippable, which sells a continuous delivery platform, they already use containers in production, at least for new applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If you paid attention to Apple’s quarterly report earlier this week, you could be forgiven for thinking that the mobile revolution was beginning to stall.Slipping mobile hardware sales
For the first time ever, iPhone shipments slipped year over year, and the growth of global smartphone sales is slipping to about 7 percent this year, per Gartner. That’s the first time it’s dipped below double digits. Ever.Similarly, iPad sales have been going nowhere for a while now. In fact, the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker recently noted a 14.7 percent decline in worldwide tablet shipments in the first quarter of 2016, noting “an overall disinterested customer base.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If you’re looking for the reason why Apple just experienced a decline in year-over-year iPhone sales, go ahead and blame it on me. Well, me and millions of other people just like me.Formerly faithful upgrades
For the past six years, I have upgraded my iPhone every 24 months, as soon as my carrier contract was up for renewal. I happily went from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6 Plus. Each time I upgraded, I was thrilled to get the new model with its bigger screen, faster performance and other cool bells and whistles.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Bots are hot, hot, hot.Until they’re not, not, not.Unless you’ve been cut off from all media in a vain attempt to avoid the 2016 presidential campaign, you’re probably aware that bots are bright, new shiny things in the tech world.The idea behind “bot-mania” is that a conversation is often the best, most natural way for a program or service to communicate with a human. Instead of websites or apps, you can type or talk to the bot and get the answers or services you’re looking for.Sounds great right? And it is. Or at least it’s a great idea. Most of the time, anyway.Great bot expectations?
It turns out, as so often happens in the world of technology, the hype may be getting ahead of the reality, creating expectations that cannot currently, or perhaps ever, be fully met.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Fredric Paul