Immigration Ban is a Disaster for the Tech Economy
On January 27, Trump issued an executive order banning immigrants from select Muslim-majority countries. The shock waves are still rolling through the app development community, creating massive political backlash even from actively non-political tech giants. Critics are quick to suggest that tech companies are simply trying to protect H–1B visa programs. Fair point — H-B1 […]
Brands Are Creating Their Own Branded Voice Assistants
Move over, Siri — there’s a new cheery-voiced assistant vying for user attention. Starbucks is the latest national brand to launch into the voice app space, and they’re doing it in a novel way with the creation of a Starbucks-specific voice assistant. Similar to ordering from a business via Google or Siri, the Starbucks voice […]
Net Neutrality on the Chopping Block at New FCC
Ajit Pai, Trump’s pick to head the FCC as Tom Wheeler steps down, has made no bones about his attitude toward Net Neutrality. “[It’s] days are numbered,” Pai said in previous press statements, adding that he plans to “take a weed whacker” to regulations that allegedly make life difficult for small business owners. However, in […]
Will Tech Leaders Jump Into Politics in Next Four Years?
What is the pre-requisite to being president? “Being a billionaire,” some might argue—and many have been, or at least multi-millionaires, before running for the nations highest office. So when rumors started flying that Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook might be planning a presidential bid for 2020, the tech press didn’t bat an eye—in fact, the move […]
Could Tech Automation Disrupt 50% of the Job Market?
50% of jobs, wiped out in twenty years. That’s the figure that pundits have been pushing lately — and while it’s largely based on speculation, the fact is that we’re already losing jobs to automation. Quickly. While it’s often presented as a negative thing or a sign of American failures, let’s be honest: if tech […]
App Developers Shaping Media to Favor Simple, Direct Content
Facebook just launched a feature to automatically subtitle videos posted to their platform. Why does this matter for iPhone app developers? It matters because it illustrates that Facebook has successfully brought back the “silent movie,” forcing content creators to cater their wares to the limitations of the platform rather than the other way around. Following […]
App Development and Ethics at the Crossroads Post-Election
In the past five years, the effects of the app economy on the social and financial structure of America has grown far beyond what anyone expected. The Ubers and AirBnBs of the app store have revolutionized how we rent, buy, and even think about property. Social networks like Facebook have connected us in ways we […]
Mobile Startup Targets Old-School Online Forums
Remember online forums? For anybody with an Internet connection in the 90s and early 00s, forums were as central to online life as Facebook and Twitter are today. (Especially if you had a weird or offbeat hobby, like keeping exotic snakes or collecting Star Wars action figures.) For better or worse, forums have mostly gone […]
Trump Tech Summit to Include Apple, Facebook, and Amazon
It’s no secret that relations between Trump and the tech industry are, well, “strained.” The media mogul and now president elect has blasted the tech world repeatedly throughout his campaign, ironically using Twitter for many of his most serious allegations. Those allegations have included accusing Sandberg of being too concerned with her ego, pushing a […]
Overlooked Communities Are Overlooked by EdTech Startups
EdTech EdTech has been hot in the startup world for several years now. Far from just a “tech for techies” code bootcamp scene, EdTech has grown to encompass a variety of platforms and startups catering to a wide range of verticals. That said, NYC iOS app developers have mostly focussed on the upwardly-mobile demographics iOS […]