Bots, the latest form factor in apps

Apps help users get a job done

Applications or apps have always been at the heart of computing. Apps have adapted to the changing distribution channels, run-time environments, and user interfaces, but at the end of the day, they exist to help the user get a job done. The first apps ran as a stack of punch cards on mainframes. With the rise of Unix, apps were summoned via command line. Next apps moved to icons on the desktop. At the advent of Web 2.0, apps moved onto the internet as web apps. The smartphone introduced apps stores, and the apps became touchable icons.

Bots are the latest form-factor for apps.

Bots represent a new form factor

All of these phases impacted how the apps were created, distributed and run. Enter bots. Bots are not apps. Bots are the latest form factor for apps. The bot form factor is causing us to rethink user experience, it has a different runtime (inside of messaging apps), it has new features like a layer of AI. However, at the end of the day, the bot must surface an app that enables the user to do a job.