Silicon Valley Bets On A Future People Won’t Buy

Elizabeth Lopatto argues that Silicon Valley has largely forgotten ordinary consumers, chasing hype around NFTs, the metaverse, and AI instead of solving real problems. She contrasts this with past consumer wins like the iMac, iPod, and iPhone that were driven by clear user needs, and notes that AI’s consumer impact is limited and often entangled with misinformation and finance-driven bets. NFTs and the metaverse failed to gain broad adoption, and AI is largely valuable as an enterprise tool with questionable consumer payoff. The piece calls for humility and a return to user-centric product design—building what people actually want rather than forcing a flashy future.”,