In A Snap, Snapchat's In Trouble And More On This Week's CTRL ALT Delete Segment On CHOM 97.7 FM
Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what’s going on in the digital world. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
Is everything going sideways at Snapchat? Is this the beginning of the end? Last week, Kylie Jennertweeted about how she doesn’t seem to be engaged with Snapchat all that much anymore. That wiped out over $1.5 billion of their market cap. Then, The Guardian asked whether or not Snapchat is still relevant, because of their recent redesign scandal. Then, it was reported that Snapchat’s 27 year old CEO, Evan Spiegel, earned $637.8 million in 2017. A record-high payout for a CEO. Wow… talk about a rollercoaster of a week!
Do you have ad-blocking software running? Last Thursday, Google updated their web browser, Google Chrome, so that it bans ads that initiate full-page pop-ups, blaring videos that start without the consumer initiating them, and those ads with the annoying (and never-ending) countdown clocks by default for both mobile and desktop computers. Is filtering out disruptive ad experiences the right move?
Google also announced some pretty cool advancements in the artificial intelligence space. Their latest algorithm can predict heart disease by simply looking at your eyes. “By analyzing scans of the back of a patient’s eye, the company’s software is able to accurately deduce data, including an individual’s age, blood pressure, and whether or not they smoke. This can then be used to predict their risk of suffering a major cardiac event — such as a heart attack — with roughly the same accuracy as current leading methods.” App of the Week: Unclutter for MacBook computers.