word "app" has become ingrained into the global lexicon of software development. As time has passed and technology has evolved, people have viewed software from progressively different perspectives. Microsoft Office is a piece of software—yet so is a video game. And so is PayPal, for that matter.
As Marc Andreessen, cofounder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, eloquently puts it, “Software is eating the world.”
But as software rises, we use the term less and less. Andreesssen's statement, meant to describe how software companies are disrupting entire industries and challenging the norm, is best manifested in the proliferation of apps. In 2013, we’ve been inundated with the concept of apps—on smartphones, tablets and laptops, of course, but also more unusual domains like cars and refrigerators.
The term's newfound ubiquity raises an interesting point about how we perceive the software that now surrounds us. What exactly is an "app"? When did a package of code meant to execute a function stop being a "program" or a "piece of software"? And is there a difference that goes deeper than a linguistic fad?
