Author: Wesley Diphoko

10.23.23

The Upcoming Amazonification of (South) AFRICA

BY Wesley Diphoko 4 MINUTE READ

There was no shortage of excitement amongst most South Africans when it was announced that Amazon was gearing to have a physical presence in South Africa. Some however wondered what was exciting about an entry of a company that already had some form of presence in South Africa. One could explain it by highlighting the fact that just about any non-South African brand (especially American) has a tendency to excite those who admire all things American. When Burger King came to these shores it was a sensation. People waited in long queues to get the big burger, chips and fizzy drink. Starbucks almost had a similar effect. Who does not want to be seen carrying a white cup with a green goddess? There’s something about American brands that triggers excitement across the world.

The US knows how to promote their brands to the global community. There’s however a difference between early excitement about a US brand and actually experiencing it in real life. South Africans are about to feel what it really means to source goods and to do business with Amazon. Local e-commerce businesses can rest assured that when an American global company comes to town it will probably gobble everything. Amazon will leave no stone unturned in getting local businesses on board. Before you know it, Amazon will feel like a South African brand. It will attempt to outsmart everyone in the game. The Amazon parcels will probably get to you quicker compared to other local e-commerce platforms. Chances are they will also cost less than other similar online stores. All of this will be made possible by local people and businesses that will work with the tech giant. Amazon is also serious about addressing the skills agenda in South Africa. The Amazon e-commerce service is well positioned to get human resources in a labour market like South Africa. These are indeed reasons to be excited however they are based on an assumption that Amazon is just an e-commerce company. Amazon is primarily a technology company. The entry of Amazon into the South African market could lead to the Amazonification of South Africa and the broader African market.

Amazon has its tentacles everywhere through services such as Amazon Prime, Amazon private retails brands, physical and its digital physical entities. Amazon Prime is technically a subscription service and not a retail unit. However, the Prime membership scheme underpins the entirety of Amazon’s retail business model. Prime members get exclusive deals, products and discounts, along with free and fast delivery. In addition to its e-commerce platform, Amazon’s online retail business includes sales from Amazon private-label brands.

There are more than 100 Amazon private-label brands, such as Amazon Basics, a brand of household items like kitchen accessories and batteries; Amazon Essentials, a clothing line; Amazon’s brand of luxury bedding and towels. In addition to all of these products there’s Amazon physical stores. Amazon launched its first physical bookstore, Amazon Books, in Seattle in 2015.

Later, it opened 21 Amazon Books locations across 13 states, including New York, California and Colorado. The stores featured a curated selection of titles based on consumer data gleaned from the company’s online retail platform and Kindle readers. All books on the shelves had at least a four-star customer rating on Amazon.com or are highly anticipated new releases. Shoppers could browse “Most-Wished-For Books on Amazon.com” and other data-driven categories. Customers could also purchase games, toys, home items and Amazon tech devices at Amazon Books. These products were available at discounted prices for Amazon Prime members. The Amazon Book stores were later closed down. They illustrated that Amazon could turn online things into physical entities.

As a result, Amazon made another major move into physical stores with the $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017. There are approximately 500 Whole Foods locations. Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods also marked its entrance into the food retail industry. The grocery chain is recognized for its selection of natural and organic offerings. Amazon Prime members get discounts at Whole Foods shops across the country. Beyond just physical stores Amazon is adding a digital layer to physical spaces. Amazon added checkout-free shopping to its retail strategy with Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery. Amazon Go is a chain of 25 convenience stores located in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle, which first opened in 2018. Amazon Go offers ready-to-eat snacks and meal options.

Amazon expanded Go stores in 2020 with the first Amazon Go Grocery store, located in Seattle. Amazon Go Grocery offers a full selection of supermarket foods, with fresh produce, meat and a bakery. Customers scan the Amazon Go app when they enter the store and fill their carts with items. When customers finish shopping, they exit the store without checking out at a register. The Amazon Go app tracks a virtual cart of all the customer’s items and then bills the person’s Amazon account. Amazon Go locations are designed to remove lines in grocery stores with checkout-free technology. To shop at these stores, customers are required to have an Amazon account and the Amazon Go app. Are you still excited about Amazon? Consumers will enjoy innovation across the Amazon stable if the tech giant follows the same script in the African continent. As for retailers and other major businesses there’s a reason for concern. Amazon could disrupt a number of industries in the long run. The Amazon.co.za is just an introduction into something far more bigger for Amazon in the African continent.

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10.19.23

EDITORIAL: Inside the latest issue of FastCompany (SA)

BY Wesley Diphoko 2 MINUTE READ

We are living in one of the most important moments in the history of technology. We are witnessing significant changes with major implications for how we live. Some of these changes may have both positive and negative effects on how we live.

In this issue, we’ve captured some of these key developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Most professionals who follow developments in the innovation space have heard enough about AI and the latest product ChatGPT, the impressive technology that grabbed everyone’s attention. In this issue we introduce you to the humans behind it.

I also share some of the few things that I observed during my Silicon Valley visit earlier this year. We also shine a spotlight on the fintech sector and particularly companies that have developed solutions that are changing the payments landscape. One of the exciting developments in this space is a solution that was developed by Clickatell which enables chat-payments across other payment systems. Our cover feature focuses on a fintech company, Ozow, that has been on the cutting edge of taking payments to another level. We sat down with the co-founders, Thomas Pays, Oriel Pays and Lyle Eckstein and we share their journey in building the payments platform in Africa. We spent some time at their headquarters in Cape Town and experienced what fuels some of the fintech innovation when we pay for goods and conduct business online.

Current technological developments in AI and other fields are such that leaders need to take a step back and ask themselves, how to navigate upcoming changes driven by technology?. We are at a “re-boot moment” that requires everyone to re-assess and re-new. Most technologies that have worked in the past are undergoing massive change. To remain relevant there will be a need to re-align and re-position in such a way that requires mastering new tools. Part of this will be about embracing what you already know, however with a new twist that embraces current technological developments. Once again we are called upon to learn new skills, to adopt new technologies if we are to remain relevant. This moment requires those who lead to take others along with them.

Each sector of society has to consider how artificial intelligence will affect its bottom line and its survival into the future. The decisions that will be taken now matter for the future. Governments will have to play their role in ensuring current innovations do not harm our future. Businesses will have to be careful about how they position themselves for the future to avoid extinction. Professionals can no longer just assume yesteryear skills will matter in the future. Now is the time for professionals to re-learn.

At FastCompany (SA) together with partners in South Africa, we are initiating a process that will assist young people to re-boot and prepare themselves for the future. I’m hoping you will be inspired by what we share in this issue and reboot responsibly.

Subscribe here.

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10.16.23

The Robots are here, we need to embrace them

BY Wesley Diphoko 3 MINUTE READ

The human race has been caught off guard as the robot revolution is already in full-force. We’ve assumed for many years that robots will only join us in the future. It turns out that robots are already with us. Some households are already using robots to carry out basic functions. Smart vacuums are already sweeping some homes here in South Africa. They are tiny objects fitted with cameras and small brushes. Through a smartphone they can be requested to clean wherever the operator may be. Through the camera a smart vacuum is able to learn about the room to understand where to clean in the future. For now it’s not as perfect as a physical broom, however it can carry out basic functions to keep a small room in clean condition.

In the US, robots are being tested to deliver packages in controlled environments. The use of robots around the world is another indicator that robots are taking off.

In Rwanda robots were used during the pandemic to deliver life saving vaccines. Some South African hospitals used robots to assess patients when it was unsafe for doctors to do so. All of these functions by robots point to a new reality of a world that is slowly introducing robots in our daily lives. They also point to a future where robots will definitely form part of daily living. We are headed to a future where robots will become our companions. They are destined to take care of some of our difficult tasks. In disaster situations they will be assigned to access hard to reach and dangerous environments. Rescue operators will work with robots to save people in earthquakes and in burning buildings. Households will get personal robots to carry difficult objects thereby becoming a useful tool.

Businesses will also find ways of using robots to do business. All of this will free people to do more meaningful work. One of the most exciting developments in the field of robots is the development of a robot, Optimus, by Tesla. Optimus is inspired by the human body, with arms, hands, legs and a head. It also has a brain, which is a central computer located in its torso. Optimus has a 2.3 kWh battery pack, which amounts to about a full day of work, along with 28 structural actuators, which allow the robot to move. Its hand features has six actuators and 11 degrees of freedom, or axes of motion, less than half of what an actual human hand has, though it can perform both wide and more precise adaptive grasps of objects. Sensors allow Optimus’s hand to identify what it’s grabbing and understand where its hand is in relation to space. Its hands are also capable of carrying a 20-pound bag.

Optimus’s central computer processes vision data from multiple sensors so it can perceive its surroundings. It also has a visual navigation system managed by neural networks to get around. It’s loaded with a library of natural motion references — essentially engineers recorded human motions, like grabbing a box off a shelf, and mapped that motion data, which has been optimised to adapt to real-world motion, to Optimus. When Optimus enters the market we begin a process of buying robots in the same way that we buy cars. They will be another object that we own to carry out our commands. Current versions of robots that are in operation provide an opportunity to climatise society with the robotic world.

There’s no doubt that robots will change the nature of work. In the same way that the washing machine freed us from washing clothes, robots will free us from some activities. One can have a positive or negative view of robots; there’s nothing that can stop them from joining human society. What can be done is to prepare our world to co-exist with them in a way that maintains harmony.

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10.10.23

The Next Big Thing is not a Smartphone

BY Wesley Diphoko 3 MINUTE READ

No one can argue with the fact that artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. Since the day internet users started using ChatGPT, AI has been on everyone’s lips. What has been lacking however is the user experience to convert non-believers into believers. Let me explain. Every technology is nothing until such time that people begin a process of not just using but relying on it for almost everything they do. The netizens are well aware of that itching feeling of checking a status, an email and whatever else online. All digital products that have reached such status have converted you from being a non-believer to a believer or in simple tech terms a user. Artificial Intelligence has so far failed to convert most into believers. No one is yet using ChatGPT in the same way that we search for stuff on Google search. It was one thing to get users excited, it’s something else to keep them engaged and using the product. It seems to me AI leaders are concerned about lack of user conversion into believers. The next big thing is to create an iPhone moment for the AI world.

According to media reports, this could be the reason why the man,Sam Altman, behind ChatGPT may be in discussions with the former chief designer of products such as iPod, iPhone and Apple watch. I am reliably informed that Sam Altman and Jony Ive may be discussing what is now referred to as an AI smartphone. If these reports are true, we are likely to see the next big thing after smartphones. Ive is not the only Apple alumni who may be in a position to shape the future of hardware in the AI driven world

Other members of the Apple mafia are working on their own version of AI hardware. Imran Chaudhri is a designer, inventor and innovator. He spent over 20 years at Apple imagining and creating some of the world’s most beloved consumer products, like the Macintosh, iPod, iPad, Apple Watch and iPhone. Imran is best known for his work on inventing the groundbreaking user interface and interactions on the iPhone, and is named as an inventor on thousands of patents. His work defines how the world interacts with technology, and is driven by his insistence on putting the human experience front and centre in the design process. His partner Bethany Bongiorno led the teams behind some of Apple’s most transformational products. As a Director of Software Engineering, she was responsible for all software project management for iOS and macOS and also played a key leadership role in the execution of critical projects such as the launch of the original iPad. Prior to her time at Apple, Bethany studied physics, worked in astrophysics research, and was a data management and software development consultant. Bethany is passionate about building and leading high performing teams to solve complex problems.

Together, Imran and Bethany envision a future that is even more intelligent and even more personal, and have committed an organisation they’ve created, known as Humane, to building not for the world as it exists today but as it could be tomorrow. They seek to reshape the role of technology in our lives. Their first product has been spotted on fashion runways worn by some of the leading figures in fashion.

They have created an Ai Pin which is a clothing-based wearable that uses a number of sensors while it harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to enable innovative ‘personal computing experiences. The connected and intelligent clothing-based wearable device uses a range of sensors that enable contextual and ambient compute interactions. A selection of these interactions were recently previewed for the first time publicly in Imran Chaudhri’s TED Talk, where he got a call and he just used his hand as an interface. He went on to describe the Ai Pin as something that will take screens away and allow us to be hands free. Imran described it as the product that will become your companion by listening, sensing and observing and responding whenever required. If he succeeds in taking the product further, we are likely to see a future of technology that will be without screens and invisible.

Watch the TED talk by Imran Chaudri

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10.06.23

We are getting closer to the Metaverse

BY Wesley Diphoko 2 MINUTE READ

When Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company would be known as Meta he also announced the Metaverse focus. He indicated that the company would focus on building the metaverse. Thereafter a number of other companies also announced their metaverse strategies. At the same time there was no shortage of doubters who felt that the metaverse was just a dream. For a moment the metaverse shifted focus from cryptocurrencies. The metaverse hype was however short lived as artificial intelligence became the talk of the town. I’ve always maintained that the metaverse is real and that it will form part of our future.

In this regard it seems I’m not alone. You just have to look at recent product launches by Apple and Meta. In June 2023 Apple announced the Apple Vision Pro.

It is an upcoming mixed-reality headset developed by Apple. During the launch, Apple indicated that it’s a spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. It was also described as a device that creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible a user’s eyes, hands, and voice. It is one of the few devices that will make the metaverse a reality. Early demonstrations of the device indicate that it can serve as a tool that can introduce the metaverse in the workplace.

What is the metaverse for everyone else? How will people interact with the virtual world? Last week. Mark Zuckerberg shared more about how they will make this a reality.

He shared more details about a collaboration between Meta (formerly Facebook) and EssilorLuxottica (RayBan parent company). The two companies collaborated in the creation of a sunglass, now known as RayBan Meta. They are smart glasses that combine Meta technology and Ray Ban style. They enable a user to answer calls and take shareable videos. There’s no doubt in mind that the RayBan Meta is the kind of device that will drive the adoption of Meta created metaverse. Some have raised privacy concerns about a pair of glasses that can take videos and I agree that will need attention.

In terms of making the metaverse mainstream, these two devices will take us closer to experiencing virtual reality at work and in our daily lives.

In a world that has questioned the need and feasibility of the metaverse they are showing us that it’s a possibility.

They are also showing us that some tech companies are hard at work creating products that will be aligned with the metaverse vision. It’s also becoming clear that all these new technologies that are hyped from time to time, they are just part of creating new digital experiences of the future. Crypto will matter in the metaverse in the same way that AI will also be useful. We need to start looking at these technologies as pieces of the puzzle that will create an amazing digital canvas.

The metaverse is not something to forget about yet, we need to start preparing for it and align business strategies in line with other technologies that will make it a reality.

Mark Zuckerberg would not have invested in this technology if it was just a fad. It’s time for businesses to develop their own metaverse plans or else they will be left behind with just physical world solutions with no presence in the virtual world.

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09.26.23

The Rise of the Smart Watches

BY Wesley Diphoko 3 MINUTE READ

Smart watches are slowly taking over from smartphones. They used to be just gadgets that are announced alongside major smartphones. Now they are becoming standalone digital products.

Huawei recently dedicated a day to a smartwatch launch. After attending the HUAWEI Watch GT4 product launch, I can now understand why a day was dedicated to the launch of a series of smartwatches. The latest watch from Huawei is not just any other smart watch. Most of these watches require almost a daily battery charge. This is not the case with the Huawei Watch GT4.

The battery can last for 14 days given the following usage habits:30 minutes of Bluetooth calling per week, 30 minutes of audio playback per week, heart rate monitoring enabled, HUAWEI TruSleep enabled at night, 90 minutes of workouts per week (GPS enabled), message notifications enabled (50 SMS messages, 6 calls, and 3 alarms a day), and screen turned on 200 times per day. Actual battery life may vary depending on usage habits.

What is even more impressive about the latest smartwatch from Huawei is that it can work with other smartphones. Most smartwatches work with smartphones within their own ecosystem. An Apple smartwatch will not work with a competing brand. The same is true for most technology brands. Huawei Watch GT4 is probably the first smart watch that can work with other brands. This fact alone got me thinking about the value of smartwatches for leading tech brands. Huawei has done something remarkable by adopting an open standards in its smartwatch. Huawei has learnt a lot from the ban of its smartphones and is now devising better strategies to keep their leading position in the market.

Apple on the other hand has also just improved the functionality of its smartwatch. Their latest smartwatch has added the ability to use gestures as a form of navigation which is unique in the industry.

It’s important to note that the Apple smartwatch gesture feature has been assigned to a smart watch instead of a smartphone. This alone, highlights the value that is now attached to smartwatches.

The value of a smartwatch is not only limited to industry matters but it extends to consumer benefit. Consider the health app in smartwatches. It is one of the most important tools ever created for digital products after the ability to make phone calls. In South Africa, LifeQ became one of the first companies to develop a tool that could enable the detection of COVID-19 virus.

1Life, together with LifeQ, using a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 device, launched a first-in-SA Covid-19 screening app. It used unique models derived from users’ biometric data to give them an indication of changes in their health, enabling consumers to take proactive precautions in the event of potential Covid-19 onset, which was essential as the country was facing a potential 3rd wave of infections. The use of a smartwatch device to detect health challenges is one of the most underrated features of smartwatches.

Society has not yet begun to use them extensively for other health purposes. Imagine if doctors were enabled to responsibly access health data with permission before assessing a patient. Imagine if health data from smartwatches could warn a nation about an imminent health hazard and influence a health defence strategy.

All of these factors are an indicator of the value of a smartwatch currently. As they evolve they will probably add more features that will enhance our lives.

There’s no doubt in my mind that smartwatches are devices of the future just wait until VR headsets are adopted as a form of eyewear. Their worth will be much more than they are today.

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09.19.23

CEO Profile: 5 Things you need to know about the Instacart leader Fidji Simo

BY Wesley Diphoko 3 MINUTE READ

Instacart starts trading today on Nasdaq.

With its highly anticipated initial public offering, the grocery delivery company seeks to raise as much as $660 million at a valuation north of $9 billion.

How the San Francisco-based company performs will serve as a bellwether for other businesses planning on going public, like German shoe company Birkenstock, as well as the hundreds of startups that grew in the 2010s to unicorn status (a private valuation of $1 billion or more) and have been waiting for favorable market conditions to offer their shares.

The CEO taking Instacart public is Fidji Simo, who assumed the top job in 2021 after a long stint at Facebook (now Meta), where she became one of cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s key lieutenants. If you want to understand the Instacart IPO and its prospects, you need to understand Simo and how she has steered the company into the public markets.

FIDJI SIMO IS A FACEBOOK VETERAN

Simo, a marketer by training, spent a decade—from 2011 to 2021—at Facebook, where she eventually oversaw the flagship Facebook app. During her time there she also served as VP of video games and monetization, as well as director of product management. Simo was widely seen as a potential successor to Zuckerberg.

SIMO BROUGHT SOME OF THE FACEBOOK PLAYBOOK TO INSTACART

Instacart will go public as a profitable company. This echoes Facebook’s experience when it went public in 2012, as it, too, was a profitable tech company at its IPO. Instacart’s revenue increased 15% last quarter compared to the same quarter in 2022.

Simo achieved these growth metrics in part because she was able to reduce operating expenses but notably because she helped introduce Instacart’s advertising business, which uses data about shoppers to sell ads.

Grocery brands such as Philadelphia cream cheese and Cheez-It crackers can advertise to Instacart consumers as they shop—and even produce custom content around ingredients. Nearly one-third of Instacart’s revenue last year—some $2.5 billion—came from its ads and software businesses.

SIMO TOOK CONTROL AT A TOUGH TIME FOR INSTACART—AND TURNED THE COMPANY AROUND

In 2020, Instacart enjoyed a pandemic bump: Sales rose 330% that year. But when Simo took over as CEO from cofounder Apoorva Mehta in August 2021, growth had slowed down as people went back to shopping in person.

Then, in 2022, tech stocks crashed. Instacart, which had been on the verge of going public, postponed its IPO—and slashed its internal valuation from $39 billion in 2021 to $10 billion late last year.

Simo has managed all of the meta narrative around the company’s valuation—including which venture capitalists bought in early enough to win big and which ones funded the company at its valuation peak and are effectively underwater. Shares acquired by Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz when each invested $50 million (when Instacart was valued at $39 billion) have declined in value by roughly 75%.

SIMO HAS COFOUNDED A HEALTHCARE INSTITUTE AND NONPROFIT

Simo is cofounder of a $35 million clinic and research facility called the Metrodora Institute, which opened in March. Metrodora is dedicated to treating women with neuroimmune axis disorders—diseases including endometriosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, long COVID, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and more, in which the immune system appears to attack the nervous system.

Simo was inspired to start Metrodora after dealing with endometriosis during pregnancy and then falling sick with another chronic illness, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, two poorly understood and possibly interrelated conditions.

Metrodora, which is funded by private investors, including Simo herself, is a for-profit clinic and research center. The institute collects complete sets of data and samples from consenting patients and provides them to partner labs at research institutions and biotech firms that use them to help find cures. Agreements with institutions differ, but Metrodora and its investors could potentially profit in the future from cures it had a hand in producing.

SIMO COMES FROM A FAMILY OF FISHERMEN

Simo, 37, grew up in the seaside town of Sète, France. She is the daughter of a sardine fisherman and a boutique owner and is the first in her family to graduate from college. She is named Fidji after the perfume by Guy Laroche that her mother wore.

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09.18.23

The Beginning of an End for the iPhone

BY Wesley Diphoko 3 MINUTE READ

Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone on January. 9, 2007. On the 12th September 2023, Tim Cook may have unveilled an iPhone 15 marks the beginning of an end for the iPhone as a product.

Besides the change in how you will charge future iPhones and how users will control them via a new button there’s nothing much to celebrate. Apple has been forced by the European Union to drop their traditional charger (lightning port) to adopt the USB-C charger. This means that an iPhone will be charged with similar chargers that are used by its competitors.

The new iPhone 15 will also feature a major change in the form of an Action Button, which replaces the ring / vibrate switch, that can be programmed to do things like activating the camera, turning on the flashlight, starting a Voice Memo, opening a note, switching Focus modes, or running your own custom shortcuts.

One more major unique features is the fact that the iPhone 15 will be the first to be wrapped in titanium which you can also hide with newly launched iPhone 15 fine woven covers.

Some Apple fans were expecting more from a device that gave birth to the smartphone industry as we know it. Other Apple products and features launched during the 12th September event suggest that Apple is preparing for the burial of this product. One of the most important announcements at the Apple event was related to the Apple watch. The upcoming Apple Watch Series 9 will introduce a new gesture called Double Tap. The significance of this feature marks the beginning of a new product line at Apple. The US tech giant is getting us ready for the Apple Vision Pro which will take virtual reality to new heights. When the headset was introduced it was showcased as something that will use gestures to enable some of its functions. The Double Tap on the Apple Watch forms part of how we will use Apple products in the future. The days of using a screen are numbered. Just as the touchscreen removed the need for physical buttons, gestures across Apple products will remove the need for screens. At this stage the iPhone seems to be the first product that could be rendered unnecessary when the Apple Vision, the watch and airpods work together.

We are headed to a future where wearable technology will become the means through which we engage and interact with the computing world. The need for a screen on a smartphone is slowly becoming irrelevant. This change may take ten years to fully become a reality, however, the process of getting users to adopt it is starting now.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, worldwide smartphone shipments declined 18.3% year over year to 300.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022 (4Q22). The drop marked the largest-ever decline in a single quarter and contributed to a steep 11.3% decline for the year. 2022 ended with shipments of 1.21 billion units, which represents the lowest annual shipment total since 2013 due to significantly dampened consumer demand, inflation, and economic uncertainties.

Apple can see the writing on the wall. The US tech giant is not alone in feeling the waning interest in smartphones. Most competitors in the smartphone industry are also struggling to innovate. In response Apple is working on another completely new product, the Vision Pro. The challenge is that the technology is not ready and will require careful implementation for users to adopt it at scale.

The introduction of double tap gesture on the Apple is part of a process of introducing the Apple Vision Pro at least in terms of the way it will be used. As for the iPhone its disappearance on the market will be gradual as it’s seen on the poor showing on the innovation front. It’s not helping that China may also add to the demise of the iPhone as the reports from Bloomberg indicate that the device may be banned within government circles in the country due to security concerns. For now the iPhone remains one of the best smartphones ever created however it may have reached its peak.

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09.11.23

The End of free Social Media is coming

BY Wesley Diphoko 2 MINUTE READ

“It’s free and always will be” is no longer a Facebook slogan as you register or sign up for the social media platform. Now the slogan on the homepage is – “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life”. What is behind this change?

To understand what is behind this change at least in the European Union you have to go back to an explanation that was once provided by Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook executive). In 2018 she indicated that “members of the social network would have to pay if they didn’t want to receive data-targeted ads” according to reports by Cnet. It seems that moment has come as Facebook responds to European Union policies and court rulings to restrict Meta’s data-collection practices.

According to the New York Times, the Facebook parent company (Meta) is considering paid versions of Facebook and Instagram that would have no advertising for users in the European Union. Facebook is not alone in considering charging for some of its services. X has also begun a process of charging for premium services for a different reason. According to the new book about its owner, Elon Musk, what is behind the subscription service is partly to prevent tech companies from sourcing X content to train their AI platforms. A subscription version keeps the data away from free riders.

All these developments point towards the end of free social media platforms across the board. We are now headed towards a future that will see us getting two versions, free and paid for social media. One will have enhanced services and the other will be a basic version. Another way of looking at current developments is that we will have the bad and good social media platforms. You will find a version that has fake users, unverified information and other terrible things. Over time it will become unwise to make use of a free version of social media. Besides all the reasons that have been provided by the platforms it’s also important to consider that this is also about survival. Social media platforms have exhausted the option of relying on advertising for their existence.

We’ve witnessed a situation at Twitter (now X) where the company was struggling, a situation which prompted the new buyer to cut staff and introduce other means of generating revenue.The paid for version of social media platforms will however not solve their problems. These platforms have broken the trust of their users. For a very long time they have built their empires on user data without compensating them financially. At some point social media platforms will have to acknowledge that users deserve to be paid for their data. A win-win situation between creators of platforms and their users will be the foundation upon which to build strong social media platforms.

Currently there’s no consensus about the value of each data set that comes from individuals. This needs to be resolved to build a better future for social platforms.

Elon Musk at X is showing the industry how to be fair in this regard. Some users are now getting paid for being on the platform. This however is not enough. Apple although not paying is showing us how to better treat the data of users.

On Apple devices a user is given choices and informed about data use. Now the industry needs to develop an agreed upon economic value for each data set. Users should be aware that their names, locations and preferences are worth something. As long as this is not the case it will be difficult for social media entities to build long lasting platforms.

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09.04.23

X is getting better and working on becoming a Super App

BY Wesley Diphoko 3 MINUTE READ

When Elon Musk acquired Twitter, many were against the move. This got worse with the rebranding exercise from Twitter to X. I was one of the few who considered the Twitter acquisition aswell as the rebranding exercise as part of a process of taking Twitter to another level (read about my thoughts about Twitter rebranding here). Recent developments at Twitter are a clear indicator that the platform will get better with time. Here’s what has happened so far since the acquisition by Musk.

The changes at X have come at a huge price to some employees and some functionality has been curtailed. There are also some good things that have come with the change. Many forget that when Twitter was acquired it was a struggling company and very poor with innovation. Since the acquisition by Elon Musk we’ve seen important innovation foundation being laid out. Just have a look at the premium version of X which has added another revenue stream for the platform. This will probably not make much of a dent in terms of making the platform profitable. It is, however, better than offering everything for free. When one also looks at the services for premium users it’s clear to see that X as a product is becoming better.

Soon, users will be able to access information about jobs according to recent reports. Employers will also have an opportunity to get a better understanding of potential candidates based on data sourced from X. This may seem minor however it’s part of a process of developing X towards being a Super app. In addition, we now know that X has become a platform that enables content creators to earn income.

South African premium users of the platform have recently announced that they’ve earned thousands based on their content. If this is not enough to convince you that X is becoming a better platform, consider the fact that soon you will need an ID or facial recognition to sign up. It is reported that X will collect biometric data on its users, such as a photograph of their face, in an update to its privacy policy. People signed up to its subscription service, X Premium, can choose to provide a selfie and photo ID for verification.

If this truly becomes a reality by the end of September 2023 for premium users, it will become one of the most important ways of curbing impersonation on X. This will probably also tackle the misinformation challenge on the platform. As these features are added on the platform it is just a matter of time before it becomes the most important tech platform. What does this mean for Twitter users (both consumers and enterprises)? It is time to take X seriously. This platform is becoming a defacto standard for identity online. At some point you will need an X account to prove that you truly exist online. As long as others don’t tighten the registration process which requires an ID, X will do what governments have been doing, in terms of identity, but this time for the digital world.

It’s also interesting to note that X may be developing solutions to enable content creators to earn an income online. Part of this is not new as other platforms have also enabled users to earn an income however the X approach seems to be different. For many years corporations have been commercialising the existence of users on their platforms. They’ve used their data to earn an income. The X approach seems to be paying users for existing on the platform as long as they are paying subscribers and also drawing an audience attention that justifies payment.

This is a model to emulate by other platforms to compensate users.

For now X it is not the same as another everything app – WeChat (in China) – where users almost do everything. It is also not clear whether users across the West and other parts of the world will trust Elon Musk controlled companies to know everything about them and keep their sensitive data. We are however beginning to see key steps towards making X an everything app.

I would also not be surprised if one day X will become integrated with other Elon Musk companies such as Neuralink and the Tesla Bot product. Once Musk gets hold of biometric data, anything is possible that could lead to digital beings with robot companions. Just watch this X space.

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