Recode Decode: Betaworks CEO and co-founder John Borthwick

Programmable Notifications

John Borthwick, CEO of Betaworks, discusses the evolution of notifications into programmable scripts, enhancing user interaction with digital devices. He highlights the growing accessibility of early adopters and the potential of programmable notifications to revolutionize communication between users and computers. Borthwick emphasizes the importance of media companies investing in mobile strategies and contextual data to effectively leverage notifications.

Notifications become programmable and you start really speaking to the computers and that's a very, very rich opportunity.

--- John Borthwick

This shift allows publishers to track user engagement with notifications, similar to ad units, providing valuable insights into content consumption 1 2.

   

User Interaction

Borthwick explores how notifications are transforming user interaction with mobile devices, shifting from pull-based to push-based content consumption. He describes the mobile platform as still in flux, with notifications potentially re-architecting navigation and content delivery. This change allows content to be pushed to users at relevant times, altering the traditional app-based navigation.

The ability to push you something sort of re architects and changes the world from a pull world into a push world.

--- John Borthwick

Borthwick believes that this evolution will make notifications a primary interface for user interaction, fundamentally changing how users engage with content and services 3 4 5.