If you are active on twitter or read mashable/techcrunch etc regularly then you must have heard about the hot new start-up in town(San Francisco). A start-up that has raised over $1 million in angel funding and whose flagship(and only) app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
Start up’s name: Yo
What does it do: Yo
Is that it: Yo
Are people nuts: Ummmm, that’s kind of hard to say.
‘Yo’ is an app created by Or Arbel, which allows the user to send ‘Yo’ to any of her contact, while the critics are arguing that it’s a useless app and are going as far ahead as to say that it’s the milestone event which signifies that we are in yet another tech bubble, Arble and his investors argue that Yo is a contextual messaging app. Where every Yo can potentially have a different meaning basis the context. e.g. A CEO can now ‘Yo’ her assistant instead of using a bell or a phone, you can just send a ‘Yo’ to your love interest to show that you miss her or send a ‘Yo’ to your close buddy to celebrate when Virat Kohli hits the next six.
Not only this, according to Arbel who created this app in 8 hours flat, Yo will change the way notifications work in our world.
Imagaine this, everytime you get a new comment on your post in rodinhood you just get a ‘Yo’ and you can check out the site to see it, or whenever your favorite e-commerce venture has a sale you get a ‘Yo’, or whenever there is a goal scored in the on-going Football world cup you get a ‘Yo’. If it seems farfetched, get this the last one is already working, once you add WORLDCUP on Yo you will get a ‘yo’ everytime a goal is scored.
How is it any different from whatsapp or other IMs? Arbel says that you need 11 taps to send a ‘Yo’ on whatsapp while just 2 to send the same on Yo.
Think it’s genius or think it’s stupid, either ways you are not alone. Check the following links out, and let us know what you think of Yo in comments.
https://mashable.com/2014/06/18/yo-app/
https://www.cnet.com/news/the-million-dollar-app-that-exists-to-say-yo/
https://www.vox.com/2014/6/18/5820948/9-questions-about-yo-you-were-embarrassed-to-ask
https://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/06/18/3450334/yo-app-tech-bubble/
https://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/06/19/yo-mobile-app-what-is-yo/
And the must see article by techcrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/19/meh/