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My top 5 articles for 2023 (so far)
When the calendar turned to July, I decided to take a moment to check out the most-read articles on my website. Not surprisingly, they mimic the year so far in technology.
Even before Facebook launched Threads, its show across the bow of Twitter, we have had an eventful year with ups and downs. For instance, the year started on a downright sour note — technology layoffs, slowing investment into startups, and a sense of doom around the technology ecosystem.
Silicon Valley itself had a near-death experience when Silicon Valley Bank went bust. The bank was a key part of the technology economic ecosystem — everyone from startups, venture capital firms, and entrepreneurs banked there. And so did many who depend on startups and their investors. We all had a few very sleepless nights. First Republic, another bank part of the technology ecosystem, fell on hard times and has since been overtaken by an incumbent.
Layoffs, falling investments, falling valuations of technology stocks, and bank failures combined with overall economic woes added up to a very gloomy Valley. While the dark cloud has not gone anywhere, thanks to OpenAI and their opening of Pandora’s box, we all got enough of a distraction to start focusing on the next new thing — which, at least in my opinion, is what we needed to look beyond the doldrums.
And so it has — there is a lot of excitement around using AI to build new products or breathe life into existing ideas. The amount of data generated every minute and hyper-digitization needs a new approach, and what we know as “AI” today has some answers. While there are many debates about AI as an existential threat, for now, it is a wonderful steroid to the software we need to deal with the growing complexity of our world.
The AI hype has revealed the chinks in the armor of trillion-dollar giants who felt unbeatable. Google, in particular, has been exposed — its search monopoly isn’t as safe as it seems. Ironically, Google’s work around large language models and neural networks has helped OpenAI become an existential threat to Google.
If the excitement around OpenAI and ChatGPT wasn’t enough, we had Apple announce its next computing platform — spatial computing in the form of a face computer, aka Vision Pro. It triggered serious debates about our dystopian future, and rightfully so. However, I don’t think we have internalized the launch of what seems like an expensive and niche device.
PS: As you all know, I also write about photography and cameras. My article about LeicaM as a great landscape camera was one of the more popular articles over the past few months.