#Innovation in Technology | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tebsolutions · 1 year ago

Text

Unlocking Your Digital Potential with TeBS: Application Development Services

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, staying ahead of the competition requires more than just a web presence. Total eBiz Solutions (TeBS) is your trusted partner in digitally transforming your business through our cutting-edge Application Development Services, with a particular focus on Low-Code App Development.

Why TeBS?

At TeBS, we understand that modern businesses need agile and customized solutions to thrive. Our Application Development Services are designed to empower organizations with innovative, future-ready applications. Here's what you can expect when you choose TeBS for your application development needs:

Low-Code Expertise: Our team specializes in Low-Code App Development, making the process of creating applications faster, more cost-effective, and flexible. With a simplified development approach, your organization can expedite its digital transformation journey.

Tailored Solutions: TeBS doesn't believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. We work closely with you to understand your unique business requirements, ensuring that the applications we develop align perfectly with your needs.

Future-Readiness: In the rapidly changing technology landscape, it's essential to have applications that can adapt and scale as your business evolves. TeBS' applications are designed to be future-ready, helping you stay ahead of the curve.

Digital Transformation: With our Application Development Services, you can embark on a comprehensive journey of digital transformation. We help you harness the full potential of technology to drive growth and efficiency.

Are you ready to take your organization's digital presence to the next level? TeBS is here to guide you. Explore the possibilities of Application Development Services with us by visiting Application Development Services.

TeBS is more than a service provider; we're your partner in unlocking your digital potential. With our Low-Code App Development expertise and commitment to tailored solutions, you can shape the future of your business with confidence.

1 note · View note

mostlysignssomeportents · 10 months ago

Text

How lock-in hurts design

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

If you've ever read about design, you've probably encountered the idea of "paving the desire path." A "desire path" is an erosion path created by people departing from the official walkway and taking their own route. The story goes that smart campus planners don't fight the desire paths laid down by students; they pave them, formalizing the route that their constituents have voted for with their feet.

Desire paths aren't always great (Wikipedia notes that "desire paths sometimes cut through sensitive habitats and exclusion zones, threatening wildlife and park security"), but in the context of design, a desire path is a way that users communicate with designers, creating a feedback loop between those two groups. The designers make a product, the users use it in ways that surprise the designer, and the designer integrates all that into a new revision of the product.

This method is widely heralded as a means of "co-innovating" between users and companies. Designers who practice the method are lauded for their humility, their willingness to learn from their users. Tech history is strewn with examples of successful paved desire-paths.

Take John Deere. While today the company is notorious for its war on its customers (via its opposition to right to repair), Deere was once a leader in co-innovation, dispatching roving field engineers to visit farms and learn how farmers had modified their tractors. The best of these modifications would then be worked into the next round of tractor designs, in a virtuous cycle:

https://securityledger.com/2019/03/opinion-my-grandfathers-john-deere-would-support-our-right-to-repair/

But this pattern is even more pronounced in the digital world, because it's much easier to update a digital service than it is to update all the tractors in the field, especially if that service is cloud-based, meaning you can modify the back-end everyone is instantly updated. The most celebrated example of this co-creation is Twitter, whose users created a host of its core features.

Retweets, for example, were a user creation. Users who saw something they liked on the service would type "RT" and paste the text and the link into a new tweet composition window. Same for quote-tweets: users copied the URL for a tweet and pasted it in below their own commentary. Twitter designers observed this user innovation and formalized it, turning it into part of Twitter's core feature-set.

Companies are obsessed with discovering digital desire paths. They pay fortunes for analytics software to produce maps of how their users interact with their services, run focus groups, even embed sneaky screen-recording software into their web-pages:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-dark-side-of-replay-sessions-that-record-your-every-move-online/

This relentless surveillance of users is pursued in the name of making things better for them: let us spy on you and we'll figure out where your pain-points and friction are coming from, and remove those. We all win!

But this impulse is a world apart from the humility and respect implied by co-innovation. The constant, nonconsensual observation of users has more to do with controlling users than learning from them.

That is, after all, the ethos of modern technology: the more control a company can exert over its users ,the more value it can transfer from those users to its shareholders. That's the key to enshittification, the ubiquitous platform decay that has degraded virtually all the technology we use, making it worse every day:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

When you are seeking to control users, the desire paths they create are all too frequently a means to wrestling control back from you. Take advertising: every time a service makes its ads more obnoxious and invasive, it creates an incentive for its users to search for "how do I install an ad-blocker":

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

More than half of all web-users have installed ad-blockers. It's the largest consumer boycott in human history:

https://doc.searls.com/2023/11/11/how-is-the-worlds-biggest-boycott-doing/

But zero app users have installed ad-blockers, because reverse-engineering an app requires that you bypass its encryption, triggering liability under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This law provides for a $500,000 fine and a 5-year prison sentence for "circumvention" of access controls:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Beyond that, modifying an app creates liability under copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrets, noncompete, nondisclosure and so on. It's what Jay Freeman calls "felony contempt of business model":

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

This is why services are so horny to drive you to install their app rather using their websites: they are trying to get you to do something that, given your druthers, you would prefer not to do. They want to force you to exit through the gift shop, you want to carve a desire path straight to the parking lot. Apps let them mobilize the law to literally criminalize those desire paths.

An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a felony to block ads in it (or do anything else that wrestles value back from a company). Apps are web-pages where everything not forbidden is mandatory.

Seen in this light, an app is a way to wage war on desire paths, to abandon the cooperative model for co-innovation in favor of the adversarial model of user control and extraction.

Corporate apologists like to claim that the proliferation of apps proves that users like them. Neoliberal economists love the idea that business as usual represents a "revealed preference." This is an intellectually unserious tautology: "you do this, so you must like it":

https://boingboing.net/2024/01/22/hp-ceo-says-customers-are-a-bad-investment-unless-they-can-be-made-to-buy-companys-drm-ink-cartridges.html

Calling an action where no alternatives are permissible a "preference" or a "choice" is a cheap trick – especially when considered against the "preferences" that reveal themselves when a real choice is possible. Take commercial surveillance: when Apple gave Ios users a choice about being spied on – a one-click opt of of app-based surveillance – 96% of users choice no spying:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/

But then Apple started spying on those very same users that had opted out of spying by Facebook and other Apple competitors:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Neoclassical economists aren't just obsessed with revealed preferences – they also love to bandy about the idea of "moral hazard": economic arrangements that tempt people to be dishonest. This is typically applied to the public ("consumers" in the contemptuous parlance of econospeak). But apps are pure moral hazard – for corporations. The ability to prohibit desire paths – and literally imprison rivals who help your users thwart those prohibitions – is too tempting for companies to resist.

The fact that the majority of web users block ads reveals a strong preference for not being spied on ("users just want relevant ads" is such an obvious lie that doesn't merit any serious discussion):

https://www.iccl.ie/news/82-of-the-irish-public-wants-big-techs-toxic-algorithms-switched-off/

Giant companies attained their scale by learning from their users, not by thwarting them. The person using technology always knows something about what they need to do and how they want to do it that the designers can never anticipate. This is especially true of people who are unlike those designers – people who live on the other side of the world, or the other side of the economic divide, or whose bodies don't work the way that the designers' bodies do:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

Apps – and other technologies that are locked down so their users can be locked in – are the height of technological arrogance. They embody a belief that users are to be told, not heard. If a user wants to do something that the designer didn't anticipate, that's the user's fault:

https://www.wired.com/2010/06/iphone-4-holding-it-wrong/

Corporate enthusiasm for prohibiting you from reconfiguring the tools you use to suit your needs is a declaration of the end of history. "Sure," John Deere execs say, "we once learned from farmers by observing how they modified their tractors. But today's farmers are so much stupider and we are so much smarter that we have nothing to learn from them anymore."

Spying on your users to control them is a poor substitute asking your users their permission to learn from them. Without technological self-determination, preferences can't be revealed. Without the right to seize the means of computation, the desire paths never emerge, leaving designers in the dark about what users really want.

Our policymakers swear loyalty to "innovation" but when corporations ask for the right to decide who can innovate and how, they fall all over themselves to create laws that let companies punish users for the crime of contempt of business-model.

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/#is-prohibited

Image: Belem (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Desire_path_%2819811581366%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #desire paths #design #drm #everything not mandatory is prohibited #apps #ip #innovation #user innovation #technological self-determination #john deere #twitter #felony contempt of business model

3K notes · View notes

emancip8projectonline · 2 years ago

Text

Tackling Gender Bias: The Role of Female Tech Startups in Southeast Asia’s Development

by Emancip8 Project

Female tech startups are gradually reshaping Southeast Asia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, defying gender bias and playing a crucial role in the region’s socio-economic development. This article delves into the barriers these women encounter, their contributions to innovation, and the potential for fostering gender equality in the tech industry.

Despite significant advancements, female tech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia continue to face numerous challenges, including limited access to funding, cultural expectations, and gender discrimination (Brush et al., 2019). By establishing support networks and promoting female-founded startups, the ecosystem can help these women overcome obstacles and create successful ventures.

Innovation is a key driving force behind the success of female tech startups in the region. These companies often focus on solving pressing social issues, such as education, healthcare, and sustainability (Ndemo & Weiss, 2017). By leveraging technology, female entrepreneurs contribute to the socioeconomic development of Southeast Asia while addressing gender disparities in the industry.

Female tech startups also stimulate job creation and economic growth in the region. According to a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2016), women-led businesses have the potential to create more inclusive and diverse work environments, which can lead to increased productivity and a better understanding of consumer needs.

Promoting gender equality in the tech industry is vital for Southeast Asia’s development. Female tech startups play a crucial role in breaking down gender barriers and inspiring future generations of women to pursue careers in technology (World Bank, 2021). By actively supporting female tech entrepreneurs, governments and private organizations can foster a more equitable and innovative industry.

In summary, female tech startups in Southeast Asia are tackling gender bias and driving socio-economic development in the region. Overcoming barriers, innovating in critical sectors, and fostering gender equality, these companies are redefining the future of technology in Southeast Asia.

References:

1.Brush, C., Greene, P., Balachandra, L., & Davis, A. (2019). The gender gap in venture capital-progress, problems, and perspectives. Venture Capital, 21(2), 115–136.

2. Ndemo, B., & Weiss, T. (Eds.). (2017). Digital Kenya: An Entrepreneurial Revolution in the Making. Springer.

3. International Labour Organization. (2016). Women at Work: Trends 2016. ILO.

4. World Bank. (2021). Women, Business, and the Law 2021. World Bank.

5. Catalyst. (2020). Quick Take: Women in Technology. Catalyst.

Read more at Emancip8 Project.

#Southeast Asia development #female tech startups #Emancip8 Project #innovation in technology #tackling gender bias #women entrepreneurs

0 notes

hardinternetkid · 2 years ago

Text

Tech Oasis: Exploring the Rapid Growth and Innovation of Dubai's Thriving Tech Sector

Introduction Dubai has emerged as a hub for tech startups in recent years, attracting interest from international venture firms and offering a range of support programs for entrepreneurs. The city has a strategic location and a strong infrastructure, making it an ideal location for tech companies looking to expand their operations in the Middle East. Dubai’s Tech Sector: An Overview Dubai has…

View On WordPress

#Business #business growth #growth #innovation #Innovation in Technology #tech #technological advancements #technologies #technology

0 notes

ilovedthestars · 3 months ago

Text

A thought I’ve been having: While it's important to recognize the long history of many current queer identities (and the even longer history of people who lived outside of the straight, cis, allo “norm”) I think it's also important to remember that a label or identity doesn't have to be old to be, for lack of a better word, real.

This post that i reblogged a little while ago about asexuality and its history in the LGBTQ+ rights movement and before is really good and really important. As i've thought about it more, though, it makes me wonder why we need to prove that our labels have "always existed." In the case of asexuality, that post is pushing back against exclusionists who say that asexuality was “made up on the internet” and is therefore invalid. The post proves that untrue, which is important, because it takes away a tool for exclusionists.

But aromanticism, a label & community with a lot of overlap & solidarity with asexuality, was not a label that existed during Stonewall and the subsequent movement. It was coined a couple decades ago, on internet forums. While the phrasing is dismissive, it would be technically accurate to say that it was “made up on the internet.” To be very clear, I’m not agreeing with the exclusionists here—I’m aromantic myself. What I’m asking is, why does being a relatively recently coined label make it any less real or valid for people to identify with?

I think this emphasis on historical precedent is what leads to some of the attempts to label historical figures with modern terminology. If we can say someone who lived 100 or 1000 years ago was gay, or nonbinary, or asexual, or whatever, then that grants the identity legitimacy. but that's not the terminology they would have used then, and we have no way of knowing how, or if, any historical person's experiences would fit into modern terminology.

There's an element of "the map is not the territory" here, you know? Like this really good post says, labels are social technologies. There's a tendency in the modern Western queer community to act like in the last few decades the "truth" about how genders and orientations work has become more widespread and accepted. But that leaves out all the cultures, both historical and modern, that use a model of gender and sexuality that doesn't map neatly to LGBTQ+ identities but is nonetheless far more nuanced than "there are two genders, man and woman, and everyone is allo and straight." Those systems aren’t any more or less “true” than the system of gay/bi/pan/etc and straight, cis and trans, aro/ace and allo.

I guess what I’m saying is, and please bear with me here, “gay” people have not always existed. “Nonbinary” people have not always existed. “Asexual” people have not always existed. But people who fell in love with and had sex with others of the same gender have always existed. People who would not have identified themselves as either men or women have always existed. People who didn’t prioritize sex (and/or romance) as important parts of their lives have always existed. In the grand scheme of human existence, all our labels are new, and that’s okay. In another hundred or thousand years we’ll have completely different ways of thinking about gender and sexuality, and that’ll be okay too. Our labels can still be meaningful to us and our experiences right now, and that makes them real and important no matter how new they are.

We have a history, and we should not let it be erased. But we don’t need a history for our experiences and ways of describing ourselves to be real, right now.

#stars has thoughts #i'm not letting the exclusionists have this one #'it was coined on the internet' 'it was only coined a few (read: in the case of aromanticism almost 20) years ago' true. so what?#that doesn't make it less real #i hope what i'm getting at comes across here #(and that it doesn't sound like im trying to invalidate all LGBTQ+ labels lol. i'm trying so hard to not do that)#labels are social technologies. if they are useful here and now then they are useful #we are using technologies that are new and innovative and useful to us in this time and place #in other times and places they have not always been and will not always be useful #but that's true of any technology. doesn't mean we don't get to use them now #queer #aspec stuff #aro thoughts

421 notes · View notes