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Apple Vision Pro won’t break sales records – but it will still change computing

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Apple Vision Pro won’t break sales records – but it will still change computing

THINKING – AND ACTING – BEYOND IPHONE Let’s be clear: Apple needs to wean itself off of its iPhone habit. Last year, 52% of Apple’s revenue of $394.3 billion USD came from iPhone sales. While this is down from previous years – as the company has successfully launched the Apple Watch, AirPods, and its growing ecosystem of services, among others – it still leaves the company vulnerable to slowing growth in smartphone-related revenues. And make no mistake: that growth is already headed south. IDC recently revised its global handset sales projections for...

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Developers are already using ChatGPT to write code and save time. Should you?

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Developers are already using ChatGPT to write code and save time. Should you?

JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF… In the months since ChatGPT was released to the public, millions of users worldwide have rolled up their sleeves to see what it can do. In addition to writing articles and term papers, it can compose music and poetry, play trivia games, update your resume, generate recipes, tweak your fitness plan, solve math problems, and even plan a birthday party. It can also generate code. Or tweak existing code. Or debug it. Which understandably makes software developers nervous. After all, if anyone can ask a bot to write code, what happens to the...

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DeSantis campaign launch livestream meltdown reaffirms Twitter’s tech decline

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on DeSantis campaign launch livestream meltdown reaffirms Twitter’s tech decline

BIG HOPES, DASHED What should have been a 21st century digital political coming out party quickly turned into an unmitigated technological meltdown as Twitter’s servers failed under the load of an estimated 600,000 visitors. The plan was for Elon Musk to introduce the Florida governor in a Twitter Space virtual livestream, then have DeSantis take the stage and announce his bid. But it quickly devolved into a string of glitchy audio as Musk and his team wrestled with technology that refused to cooperate. After about 20 minutes, Twitter pulled the plug on the livestream. When...

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Montana’s TikTok ban is an appalling line in the sand for freedom of speech

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Montana’s TikTok ban is an appalling line in the sand for freedom of speech

DATA PROTECTIONS SPAWN FREEDOM CONCERNS Montana’s law, which takes effect January 1, 2024, is the first outright ban, within a U.S. state, of the popular video sharing app. A violation is defined as, “Each time that a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok,” and is punishable by fines of up to $10,000 per violation per day. It’s a tough solution to a significant problem. No one denies that TikTok represents clear and present danger to individuals, businesses, and governments around the world, particularly in the...

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Collaboration tools hit their stride in the post-COVID age

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Collaboration tools hit their stride in the post-COVID age

A CHAOTIC START The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were disruptive in ways we’re only just beginning to understand. After the initial wave of lockdowns sent millions of knowledge workers home in March 2020, IT leaders were challenged to keep everyone working no matter where they were, or how they were connected. Collaboration platforms were quickly forced into service as organizations of all sizes and in all sectors struggled to maintain productivity for their suddenly remote workforces. They may have succeeded in keeping the lights on, but the processes used to do so weren’t...

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Geoffrey Hinton’s resignation from Google is AI’s canary in a coal mine

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Geoffrey Hinton’s resignation from Google is AI’s canary in a coal mine

GROWING CONSENSUS Hinton resigned from Google last week, saying AI could pose a more urgent threat to humanity than climate change. He said he wanted to speak out on these risks without worrying about damaging his now-former employer’s reputation. The timing of Hinton’s resignation – so soon after the release of an open letter from the Future of Life Institute, signed by over 1,000 top industry researchers, which called for a 6-month moratorium on testing next-generation large language models – is no coincidence. It signals a growing momentum among scientists and...

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Follow these 4 steps to build a successful post-pandemic roadmap for hybrid work

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Follow these 4 steps to build a successful post-pandemic roadmap for hybrid work

THE CONSEQUENCES OF RTO The pandemic has resulted in a number of permanent changes to work culture, particularly where remote work is concerned. Whereas before the first lockdowns many employers resisted requests to work from home, their attitude quickly changed as the need to keep the lights on remained after workers left the office. But not everyone got the message, and that was particularly apparent as COVID infection rates began to fall and organizations started refining their post-pandemic workforce plans. Many organizations attempted to enforce strict RTO rules, often...

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Batten down the hatches and hit the gas: 8 steps to recession-proof your IT budget

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Batten down the hatches and hit the gas: 8 steps to recession-proof your IT budget

THE ECONOMY BEGINS TO TURN It’s easy to understand why the broader economy is pulling back after over a decade of historic expansion. Early pandemic spending sprees are giving way to late-pandemic pullbacks. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is sending shockwaves around the globe. Between chaotic energy markets, broken supply chains, waves of layoffs, rampant inflation, and spiking interest rates, there’s no shortage of frightening economic headlines. Historically, IT has followed the rest of the business herd as economic indicators have started to trend downward. As everyone else’s...

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Massive Pentagon data leak shines light on insider cybersecurity risks

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog, StringN. No Comments on Massive Pentagon data leak shines light on insider cybersecurity risks

NO LONGER JUST A GAME Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, 21, was arrested last week for allegedly stealing the highly classified military documents and sharing them on a Discord gaming channel. The compromised data includes signals-based intelligence that could impact American information gathering efforts for years to come. In the ever evolving pantheon of major cybersecurity events, this ranks among the most damaging. What is especially troubling about this particular breach is the amount of time it took to be discovered. Military officials were...

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Today’s CIO role is evolving more rapidly than ever. Here’s what’s driving it.

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Today’s CIO role is evolving more rapidly than ever. Here’s what’s driving it.

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED If we’re being blunt, CIOs of old were little more than tactically-focused bureaucrats who had to ask others – typically the CEO, CFO, or COO – for budgetary approval. They rarely participated in strategic decision making, as the rest of the leadership group tended to view them in little more than a maintenance role. CIOs of old were largely focused on maximizing uptime, staffing the help desk, and replacing employee laptops every few years. This may have been sufficient when most of an organization’s technology infrastructure was stuck behind a glass wall and...

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