Is the smartphone app doomed?  To look at the stats you wouldn’t think so: Apple has two million of them in its App Store and Google Play has a few hundred thousand more than that. Total app downloads have passed the 150 billion mark.  But some are wondering whether apps are about to be replaced by something smaller, smarter and faster.

Bots.  These programs, thanks to AI [artificial intelligence] software in the cloud, can chat to humans via text, extract the meaning and then act on it.  They are little digital helpers.

Source: BBC Technology News

Date: October 11th, 2016

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37154519

Discussion

1) “94% of the cash generated by apps in Apple’s App Store goes to just 1% of publishers, and those firms also get 70% of all downloads”  Does this surprise you at all?  Why would the other 99% bother developing apps?

2) “For companies or brands that want meaningful interaction with customers, a conversation mediated by a bot could work well.”  What do you think would make a “meaningful” conversation, and do you think a bot would be able to deliver it?