The metaverse was all the rage in 2021 and 2022. Tech giants like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft were pouring billions of dollars into developing metaverse platforms, and celebrities and influencers were lining up to promote them. But in 2023, the metaverse seems to have gone out of style.
There are a few reasons for this. First of all, the metaverse is still in its early stages of development. The platforms that are currently available are clumsy and expensive, and don't offer much that people can't do in the real world. Second, there are concerns about the potential of the metaverse to be addictive and isolating.
Some experts worry that people could spend so much time in the metaverse that they neglect their relationships and responsibilities in the real world.
Finally, the metaverse has been criticized for being too centralized. Meta, Microsoft, and other tech giants are the ones developing the metaverse platforms, and they would probably control them. This raises concerns about privacy and censorship.
So what does the future hold for the metaverse? It's hard to say for sure. But it's possible that the metaverse will eventually become mainstream technology. However, it is also possible that it will disappear, like many other technological fads.
And in this way Meta (formerly Facebook) has invested many billions of dollars that have gone down the drain. For more than a year it has been laying off thousands of people, and recently it has announced a new layoff process. We'll see where and how it ends
But what is clear to me is that I can't find any reason to understand that a man who has made a very bad decision for his company, and who is generating thousands of layoffs, can continue to be its manager. It's embarrassing.
And the same must be said of the managers of certain investment funds who invested billions in an idea about which they were almost completely unaware, and happily gambled with other people's money. I am almost certain that most of them will continue in their very well paid jobs. Injustices of life.
Meanwhile, there are a number of other tech trends that are gaining momentum. These seem to be the most relevant:
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more powerful and sophisticated. Today AI is already being used to power a wide range of applications, from self-driving cars to medical diagnostics.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology used to record transactions. Blockchain is the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, both of which have also seen their ups and downs of late.
And quantum computing is a new type of computing that is based on the principles of quantum mechanics. Quantum computers are potentially much more powerful than traditional computers and could be used to solve a wide range of problems that are currently intractable. But we are still several years away from having quantum computers with thousands of qbits, and seeing where they will be most productive.
What seems clear is that the metaverse has run out of steam, and if it ever becomes something, in many years, it will not be the brutal change that many predicted.
And on the other hand, Artificial Intelligence is being the predominant technology that everyone is talking about, and there are many people who are already using it, as it helps them synthesize and improve their ideas. And of course large companies like Google, Microsoft and others are including it in the services they offer to customers. And according to experts it can change our lives.
Where 2 years ago everyone was talking about the metaverse, today everyone is talking about AI. What will we have in two years time?
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