For most, the underlying technology that makes an app ‘tick’ is shrouded in mystery.  This has been a boon for programming experts and has spurned a very profitable niche for professional programmers who are paid to research, develop, and build these apps.  But what if you have an idea for the “next big thing” – or even the “next little thing” for that matter – with no programming skills to speak of and, for whatever reason, you don’t want to hand over your idea to a professional and pay to have it developed?  In the past, if you weren’t an app programmer yourself, you would have had the option to (a) do nothing, of course, (b) be brave and trust your idea in the hands of a developer, or (c) develop your programming skills and learn how to build the darn thing yourself.  Well, now there is hope for non-programmers.  Recently,  thanks to a collaboration between Google and MIT, the world of mobile app creation has been opened to everyone with App Inventor, which is a web-based development platform, making option (c) not so out of reach for many.