Five Things Tech: Tech Industry, TikTok, Vision Pro, GovTech, Pizza

There's so much going on in Tech. Read this now to stay in the know.

Jun 10, 2023

Tech is moving quicker than ever. Enjoy the ride.

I’m Nico, I have been involved in tech for over 20 years and I still enjoy it. There’s so much going on, so many developments happen, that have a huge impact on our economy and society.

Here’s five articles that I found noteworthy this week and they should help you get a better understanding of what’s going on in Tech.

The tech industry was deflating. Then came ChatGPT.

It seems like the whole tech sector is now shifting towards AI, because that’s were the center of attention is right now. I assume crypto bros will soon reappear as AI dudes. On a more serious note, to me the current status of the tech sector reminds me a lot of the way it was in the mid 90s: so many ideas, so much hope, so many big leaps in tech development.

The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok

Cory Doctorows ever so positive outlook on the business models in tech and how the lock-in effect leads to crappy experiences for the users. He has some points, but I also do hope that it’s not all that bad.

How Apple’s Vision Pro could change the world

So Spatial Computing is the new term to watch - and I do think Apple is on an interesting path right now. I also don’t expect to see this enter mainstream for a few years, not just because of the price, but also because Apple will take some time to figure out exactly how to create user experiences that people will enjoy.

Using Tech to Make Government Better

There’s so much potential in GovTech, but it seems that still too many ideas around GovTech evolve around transferring an analog process to a digital one instead of rethinking the whole process and figuring out what the users really want and need. We still rely too much on paper and it’s embarissing how far behind we are when we look at Estonia, Ukraine and other countries.

Bay Area-founded pizza startup Zume reportedly shuts down after raising $445 million

A Zume Pizza truck is parked along El Camino Real in Palo Alto on April 17, 2018. Zume Pizza used robotic pizza-makers and smart ovens inside a truck to deliver cooked-to-order pizzas to customers.

So not only did somebody think that it is a great idea to disrupt the pizza delivery business by making pizza in a delivery truck, but also they managed to raise almost half a billion dollars for this? Ain’t capitalism great? Why do those idiotic ideas get funded and smart ideas that move society forward have a hard time finding money?

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