What The Tech: Technology that never gained popularity
BY JAMEY TUCKER, CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Everyone wishes they’d been early buying stock in Amazon, Google, or Apple. But in tech, being early doesn’t always mean being right. Sometimes, being early is just expensive.
Over the past decade, several tech trends exploded with hype, soaked up billions of dollars, and promised to change everyday life. Then, almost as quickly, they faded away.
The latest example is the metaverse. A few years ago, Meta pitched the metaverse as the future of work, shopping, entertainment, and social life. The company spent tens of billions of dollars building virtual worlds where people
would meet as digital avatars.
But adoption stalled, interest dropped, and Meta recently shut down or scaled back major parts of its metaverse projects, shifting its focus to artificial
intelligence instead.
Another massive tech moment was NFTs, or non fungible tokens. In 2021, digital art sold for millions of dollars, celebrities bought cartoon characters, and buyers were told they were investing in the future of ownership.
Today, most NFTs are worth a fraction of what people paid, marketplaces have closed, and interest has largely disappeared.
Then there was Clubhouse, the invite only audio app that briefly turned everyone into a talk show host. It took off during the pandemic when people were stuck at home. Once life returned to normal and competitors copied the idea, users moved on.
Google Glass promised augmented reality everywhere. Instead, it raised privacy concerns and made people uncomfortable. The product quietly vanished from public view after a brief but intense spotlight.
And many viewers still remember 3D TVs. Around 2010, they dominated electronics stores and tech shows. Manufacturers promised movies and sports would jump off the screen. But consumers didn’t like wearing special glasses, broadcasters didn’t want to produce 3D content, and the feature disappeared almost overnight.
The common lesson is simple. Great technology doesn’t just sound futuristic. It has to solve a real problem, be easy to use, and arrive when people are ready.
Otherwise, you’re just left explaining why you bought virtual land, digital art you can’t hang on a wall, or a television that needs glasses.
