Five Things Tech: 1990s, Defense Tech, Cookies, Obesity, Nuclear
Tech took a short break over the holiday season. Or did it?
Hi, good to have you back! I hope you didn’t have to spend too much time over the holidays fixing other people’s tech problems. Luckily, my son is old enough to now do this for the family and also my wife is the uncrowned queen of hotline wrangling and she always gets what she wants from tech support. And I have a history of starting tech projects at home and then not getting around to finish them, so nobody bothers me anymore.
Aside from that, I did some reading the last few days and I hope you like the selection of articles I picked for you. It would mean the world to me if you decide to go paid for this year. 🕺
How the GenAI Revolution Reminds Us of 1990s Computing
Although GenerativeAI is truly a paradigm shift, if you look at it from this angle, it really doesn’t seem all that novel. There sure are parallels to what we did in the 90s. And I remember how we thought we’d solved things and then the next tech advancement came and then the next and 20 years later it is still evolving and still fascinating.
Shark Tanks: With Gaza as Testing Ground, Israeli Defense Startups Flourish
Defense Tech Startups are back in demand as the global threat level keeps climbing. Obviously, we should want that our armies have the best defensive capabilities out there, we owe that to the people who we need to defend our liberties. I’m sure that the Israeli tech scene as well as the Ukrainian tech scene will advance this sector tremendously in the next few years. Because they have to due to external threats.
Google Is Finally Killing Cookies. Advertisers Still Aren’t Ready.
Advertisers will be ready, because they have to. It’s not a surprise that Google will fade out the cookie and the adtech industry will find good solutions for advertisers and customers alike. Because they have to if they want to stay in business.
MIT scientists are working on a vibrating obesity pill
While I find it insane that there is still so much processed food around that tastes good and makes people fat, I applaud the efforts by scientists to do something against the obesity pandemic that has hit many western societies. I think we have a real chance to fight obesity this decade, which will of course lead to a lot less health problems for many, many people.
France bets €1bn on startups building bus-sized nuclear reactors to fight climate change
This is interesting from a tech perspective, but it still is very wrong. Unless the problem of nuclear waste has been solved, we should not rely on nuclear energy, as exciting as it might sound. Also, solar and wind are so much more efficient, not to mention that they won’t have nuclear fallout...
That’s all for Five Things Tech this week! Remember to go paid now!
— Nico