Quick Bytes – Jan 12th: Is the Dot Com Boom Back?
A look at the most interesting startup and business-related news stories of the week.
Is the dot com boom back?
Quick Byte
Venture capital firms dished out the highest amount of capital seen in Silicon Valley since the dot com boom in the late 90s. So will we see the same bubble burst? According to experts, the market is looking a lot healthier due to the diversification of investment. Companies are willing to stay private longer than in the past and “later-stage companies with strong consumer traction are commanding large rounds of financing.” Basically, experts feel confident that, because investments take longer and are more patiently made, money isn’t being thrown around to the same degree.
The Full Story
Money is flowing into Silicon Valley to find the next big thing at the highest rate since the dot-com boom — and there does not seem to be a bubble in sight.
In 2017, venture capital firms in the United States dished out $84 billion to 8,000 technology startups and companies, the highest amount of capital seen since the early 2000s, according to an annual industry monitor from the research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association.
But unlike before, when many venture capital firms lost their money when the dot-com bubble burst, both organizations noted a healthier ecosystem. One reason is that most of the $84 billion went to large, high-value companies with an established customer base rather than risky, early-stage startups. Read the Full Article Here
iPod/iPhone co-creator turns on the giant
Quick Byte
You may have already seen the twitter storm created by Tony Fadell, one of the key inventors of the iPod and on the team to invent the iPhone. Fadell has taken to Twitter to lambaste giant tech companies over the device addiction they are causing people, particularly children. Fadell is not the first to express concerns, there are several ex-Facebook execs who recently expressed remorse over what their technology has turned into. It’s worth bearing in mind with our new ethical dilemmas around AI and machine automation. While we can’t stop progress, we can have a hand in ensuring that progress isn’t psychologically damaging.
The Full Story
The co-creator of the iPod and iPhone has publicly criticised Apple and other Silicon Valley firms for their role in device addiction, arguing that adults and children alike are slaves to their phones and social media.
Tony Fadell was on the team that worked on the first iPhone, and is one of the key inventors of the iPod. He went on to found smart thermostat firm Nest, which he sold to Google for $3.2 billion (£2.3 billion). Read the Full Article Here
The birth of emojis
Quick Byte
Head into your weekend with this very important read on how the people burdened with establishing new emojis make their decision. Anyone can submit an emoji proposal to the nonprofit group, Unicode, mainly made up of people from large tech companies like Google and Apple. Although it seems like fun and games, the widespread usage of emojis highlights how there’s a gaping need for emotion in our communication technology – words are sometimes simply not enough.
The Full Story
We have a smiling pile of poop. What about one that is sad?
There is a loaf of bread and a croissant. But where is the sliced bagel?
How can our emotional vocabulary be complete without a teddy bear, a lobster, a petri dish or a tooth?
These are the kind of questions that trigger heated debates and verbal bomb tossing — or at least memos with bursts of capital letters — among members of the group burdened with deciding which new emoji make it onto our phones and computer screens each year. Read the Full Article Here
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