Massive Tech went on a homicide spree in 2023. We noticed the tip of many once-loved services and products, all swallowed up into the nice darkish pit of company consolidation. Few corporations saved their knives sheathed, and if this yr taught us something, 2024 is prone to be simply as bloody.
This was a foul yr to be a tech employee, and doubtless simply as unhealthy to be tech itself. The nice tech layoff spree continued on from 2022 as Silicon Valley tried to chop prices by tossing employees to the curb and killing any services or products deemed too extraneous. Because the trade’s newest fascination with synthetic intelligence turns into an outright obsession, one can anticipate we’ll discover much more shallow graves dug across the campuses of Google, Apple, TikTok, Microsoft, and Amazon.
This occurs yearly, however in 2023 we noticed greater than the same old quantity of fats trimming. Massive Tech didn’t simply homicide merchandise individuals have been utilizing, it shuttered companies that folks trusted. As streaming has continued to refute its preliminary promise by forcing adverts on customers who can’t pay a premium, quite a few companies equivalent to Apple Music and Netflix have reduce off lower-cost subscription tiers.
If there have been a most needed board hanging up within the Silicon Valley sheriff’s workplace, then Google would have the largest bounty on its head. The Mountain View large has refocused its complete equipment on pushing AI merchandise, and meaning different tasks gotta go. On the prime of the listing is Google Stadia, the corporate’s cloud gaming platform that took a full six months earlier than the coroner might file their full report. However that’s simply the tip of the iceberg.
We noticed the impacts that mega-mergers just like the multi-billion Warner Bros. Discovery had on user-end merchandise and content material. To not put too nice a degree on it, every little thing acquired worse. Subsequent yr, we’ll begin to see the true impression of the $69 billion Microsoft merger with Activision Blizzard. Regardless of exec’s assurances that every little thing will probably be simply nice, we’ve got a sense we’ll simply find yourself with fewer apps and fewer competitors, all whereas paying extra for degraded experiences.