Tech Events Aren’t Fun Anymore

“These developer conferences are still full of innovation, but that sense of experimentation — the risk factor, the ‘look what we just did’ — is gone.”

Upon reviewing this year’s Google I/O keynote, Lance Ulanoff remains unimpressed by AI that can detect lung cancer before a human. 

In place of a simple account of announcements pertaining to the launches he saw, he tells us about the overshadowing caution that the largest tech companies have been forced to uphold as their modus operandi. 

The now forced accountability tech companies have earned themselves when it comes to reclaiming consumer trust in an era of its degradation has lead to a situation where the joy and creativity of tech events has nearly disappeared, he argues. 

By the same token, he admits that the former overzealous hubris of these presentations can lead to an audience of shaking heads. However, he closes with a simple line detailing a complex ask: 

“I want to be amazed again.”