Braving the choppy waters of the South Atlantic four days a week, fisherman David Shoshola says a mobile phone app is helping him worry less about the risk of not being able to support his family.  The 50-year-old and three colleagues fish from two small, open-deck boats based in the seaside town of Lambert’s Bay, on South Africa’s windswept west coast.  Fishing using lines rather than nets, they typically catch just 20 fish a day per vessel, with the main species being snoek (a type of mackerel), and sea bream.  It’s a tough life, and like anyone in his trade, Mr Shoshola has two main concerns – finding the fish in the first place, and then being able to sell his catch.

Source: BBC Technology News

Date: February 2nd, 2017

Link:http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38769790

Discussion

1) “he can now sell the fish via Abalobi before he has returned to shore, easily finding out the best possible price.”  What other types of commerce could benefit from this sort of app?

2) “”You don’t want to deprive someone of a living, but you don’t want to bestow upon them the tech that means they will fish themselves out of existence.”  Should the developers of an app concern themselves with issues like these, or leave it to the users of the app?