2014 Internet Trends | Full Report From Code Conference

Renowned Tech Analyst, Mary Meeker, a partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers KPCB, released her influential annual Internet trends report at the Code Conference emphasising the rise of mobile interfaces in transforming the way we communicate and interact.

She describes the biggest “re-imagination” of the net as a trend toward mobile devices with sensors that enable users to share a huge and diverse range of information. Samsung Galaxy S5 has 10 different Sensors

Companies can use this “big data” to solve big problems. Ms Meeker points to innovations in sleep patterns, fuel efficiency, speech recognition software and media personalisation, arising from millions of data points collected on mobile devices.She warns that the mining of so much big data also raises questions about rights, particularly individual privacy. Malicious attacks targeted at mobile platforms are likely to intensify, amid a general rise in active threats and nation-state activities.

Key Observations

Cryptocurrencies: Ms Seeker keeps faith in Bitcoin despite its crash in value, arguing the 5 million Bitcoin wallets worldwide (an eight-fold increase year-on-year) shows “extraordinary interest”.
Tablets: Unit shipments grew faster than desktops or laptops ever did, but still have more room to grow at 6 per cent market penetration
Selectivity: Internet Users are sharing information to a narrower group of people. This brinngs Snapchat to Mind.
User interfaces matter. Meeker argued that bad user interfaces are going away as new ways to present industry applications emerge. That’s true on the consumer front, but design isn’t exactly a core enterprise competency…yet.
Single-purpose apps: Applications are moving away from being catch-all toward stand-alone, such as Facebook’s Messenger and Twitter’s Vine.co