The Verge 2017 tech report cards – The Verge

The Verge 2017 tech report card: Apps

2017-12-31T12:00:02-05:00

The biggest story about apps in 2017 was, well, stories. Snapchat still deserves the credit for coming up with the concept, and Instagram shamelessly ripped it off back in 2016, but this year, everyone got on board. WhatsApp added stories (and then later made them less prominent after users complained). Facebook added stories (and tried to guilt users into using them with digital ghosts of friends.) Medium - a largely text based app - added stories! YouTube added stories! It's stories all the way down as far as the eye can see.

Of course, there's a very good reason for all this - stories are popular, and popular places on the internet are r …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Streaming music

2017-12-31T10:00:01-05:00

If 2016 was the year that streaming music became a necessity, 2017 is the year streaming music showed its clout. This couldn't have been showcased any more clearly than at the Grammys, where Chance the Rapper won best new artist, best rap album, and best rap performance - an honor only made possible because nomination rules changed, allowing for streaming-only albums to be eligible for nomination. In his acceptance speech, Chance gave a shout out to SoundCloud.

Streaming music consumption continues to ramp up, not slow down. Mid-way through the year, the RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America) released statistics on the US musi …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Headphones

2017-12-31T08:00:02-05:00

Sony 1000XM2 | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

My best way to look back on 2017 in the world of headphones is to consider the things I wasn't able to say a year ago.

The best portable headphones today are wireless. That wasn't true last year - at least not in my Beoplay H6-loving judgment - however Bowers & Wilkins' PX have shot to the top of the charts with an exquisitely tuned sound, handsome looks, and solid battery life. The noise-cancelling PX are a transformational pair of headphones because they take NC cans out of their traditional role of being merely functional and into the competition for best sound quality. Gone are the days of Bose singularly dominating the NC field with aw …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Gadgets

2017-12-30T14:00:02-05:00

It's been a pretty good year for gadgets. While the most popular gadget may have been the fidget spinner, there have been a number of devices released in 2017 that will make a lasting impact for years to come. From the Nintendo Switch, which turned out to be a major hit for the Japanese gaming company, to new smart home devices from companies like Nest and Arlo, to changes in policy around smart luggage that threaten industry leaders in the space, 2017 has been nothing if not exciting for gadget enthusiasts.

The biggest gadget win of the year is undoubtedly the Nintendo Switch. The portable gaming console landed in March and immediately mad …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Artificial intelligence and robotics

2017-12-30T12:00:02-05:00

Artificial intelligence boomed this year like few other areas in tech, but despite the scientific breakthroughs, glut of funding, and new products rolling out to consumers, the field has problems that can't be ignored. Some of these, like company-driven hype and sensationalist headlines, need better communication from the media and experts. Others challenges are more nuanced and will take longer to address, such as bias in algorithms and the growing threat of tech firms becoming AI monopolies as they hoover up data and talent.

But first, the good stuff. Artificial intelligence was everywhere in 2017, and although you're right to be skeptica …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Virtual reality

2017-12-30T10:00:02-05:00

I wouldn't blame you for tuning out VR news in 2017. There was no string of huge hardware releases, like last year's Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. The medium's limits became clearer. For some people, VR reached a trough of irrelevance - stories about it were no longer conceptually fresh and fascinating, but they weren't relevant to daily life yet, either.

Despite this, 2017 laid exciting groundwork for VR's future. The biggest advance was arguably Windows Mixed Reality: a VR platform built into Microsoft's Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, supporting headsets that don't need external cameras or markers. Mixed Reality headsets an …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Cameras

2017-12-30T08:00:02-05:00

Digital photography as we know it is about to change. It's already changing, really, judging by some of the cameras released in 2017. Where last year was a solid, occasionally exciting one for the camera industry, the past 12 months held even more signs that the basics of photography are evolving. And a lot that has to do with advancements in software and computational photography.

That sounds boring! But hear me out.

Let's start with consumer 360-degree cameras, which until this year have often felt like a solution in search of a problem. While professionals have spent years crafting high-end VR productions using 360-degree cameras with o …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: SpaceX

2017-12-29T12:00:02-05:00

SpaceX started 2017 at one of its lowest points ever. The company hadn't launched a single rocket since September 1st, 2016, when a Falcon 9 exploded on a Florida launch pad as it was being fueled. The mishap destroyed both the rocket and the satellite the vehicle was supposed to carry to space - prompting many to question the reliability of the company's hardware. But in January, just four and a half months after the accident, SpaceX was ready to convince the world that it had figured out the problem and was prepared to safely return to spaceflight again.

Its first launch on January 14th was a success, and ever since that crucial return-to …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Tesla

2017-12-29T10:00:02-05:00

It was supposed to be Tesla's year for delivering big on Elon Musk's ambitious vision: the mainstream electric car known as the Model 3. And at the beginning of 2017, things looked great from the outside. But instead of delivering, 2017 was a year where Tesla stalled on that promise, and in the end was forced to buy itself more time with the strength of its brand and the promises of its CEO.

Tesla entered the year with around half a million preorders for the Model 3, each worth $1,000. Musk had promised in 2016 that the car would be at "production capability" by July 1st of this year - a date he called "impossible" to meet. In the end, Musk …

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The Verge 2017 tech report card: Uber

2017-12-29T08:00:02-05:00

Has any other company had a more batshit year than Uber? In lieu of a traditional report card, I briefly considered just copying and pasting text from the Book of Revelation into this article. That's how bad it was.

Let's recap: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick joins President Trump's business council, and faces an immediate backlash; Uber is accused of undermining a taxi driver protest at JFK airport; the #DeleteUber hashtag goes viral; Susan Fowler speaks her mind; Waymo files its lawsuit; a self-driving Uber runs a red light; a self-driving Uber crashes; Travis Kalanick is caught on camera being a jerk; we learn about Uber executives visiting a …

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