The introduction of apps has dramatically changed the way in which the public interacts with companies selling products and services. When it comes to chat apps such as WhatsApp, Kik, and Line, the users themselves, as well as their data, are often the price of such forms of digital communication. In Ewan Spence’s article “The Mobile Browser is Dead, Long Live the App”, Spence postulates about how apps are changing the landscape of web development. He writes, “If you follow the principle that you need to be where users are, then you need to be building and distributing apps, which leaves you no choice but to accept that Google and Apple will always be the third party in any relationship with your customers.” Rather than searching for information or products through the website of a company in-browser, people are more inclined to download the corresponding app and find what it is they are looking for through there. This holds true in my experience, because oftentimes page loading time is longer when trying to reach a website through a browser via smartphone, than through an app. In order for a company to make an app and distribute it, they must rely on app stores such as Google Play or the Apple App Store.
The rise of digital currency has served to illuminate the ways in which cash and credit cards are no longer meeting the needs of most people. While banks are government-regulated, and paper currency is tracked and controlled, Bitcoin provides an alternative that reflects the globalization of media and the need for a global currency that is not restrained by a single nation’s borders or trade regulations. In the article “How Bitcoin Ends: Is the cryptocurrency just going to end up reinforcing the financial system it was supposed to disrupt?”, Douglas Rushkoff explores some of the ways Bitcoin is failing, and suggests that this is due to its reliance on some of the same financial restraints that banks suffer from. For example, a wealthy individual can invest more money into Bitcoin, and therefore make a greater profit than someone who cannot invest as large an amount. This only serves to reinforce the same wealth differences that were present in other forms of currency. Additionally, the added risk of losing your Bitcoin makes it an unappealing option, because Bitcoin is not insured.