dev/Sorting/Thoughts

The future of Microsoft

Posted on Jul 9, 2016 in WebTech

The Verge published an interesting article about the hot topics of Microsoft tech labs and why they collect so many data for the AI brain. An interesting opinion comes from Qi Lu, who says that mobile apps are not the right model for the future. But are bots and AI helper the right way to replace an app? Maybe.

Lu begins by running down the disadvantages presented by the first wave of the mobile internet. The percentage of web traffic from mobile devices has never exceeded desktop traffic he says, reflecting users’ frustration with the experience. “We know web doesn’t really work on the phone,” Lu says. And outside a handful of major categories, users are resistant to downloading apps. Seattle residents might be asked to download an app just to check the fare of a ferry they take a couple times a year — surely there’s a better model. “Our industry hasn’t found an experience platform that can unleash the entire value of mobile and the cloud,” Lu says. “Apps, fundamentally, are not the right model.”

Source: Exclusive: Why Microsoft is betting its future on AI