The Quiet Revolt Against Future Tech with Jag Sharma, Jason Kapadia and Matt Webster - E109
$73 billion - that’s how much Meta has wasted shoving the Metaverse down our throats. Was it worth it…?
We’re seeing a steady revolution against the tech we’re told is good for us, from the decline of virtual worlds to simple things like wired headphones.
Is it a trend that’s set to last? Or can Claude’s new, scary-powerful features tempt users back into the future again? We cover all this, and more, on Disconnected this week…
This episode of Disconnected covers:
Tech Fatigue and the Return of Friction
The Rise of Agentic AI in Real Life Work
Control vs Convenience
The Metaverse Comedown & VR’s Adoption Problem
The Future of the Human-AI Relationship
Episode Highlights:
"Maybe this isn't really about headphones. Maybe it's about tech fatigue and about people pushing back quietly against technology that promises convenience but increasingly feels complex, invisible and slightly out of our control." - 4:30 - Jag Sharma
“I've got a lot of suspicion around Meta’s U-turn. Heartbreak isn't usually a factor that companies the size of Meta base their business decisions on.” - 21:35 - Matt Webster
"For the foreseeable future, we've got a U turn: Horizon Worlds VR will now not be turned off, but it will have limited support, just for the people that like using it… they kind of pulled the plug and then slightly put it back in again."
- 22:55 - Matt Webster
"I think there has to be a big leap in technology and form factor… but again, it seems like it's just a promise that keeps on stealing investor money, not panning out, I guess for now." - 32:25 - Jason Kapadia
"It's really insane how good it's become… it’s like there's an invisible junior colleague that's actually just working on your behalf, and you're just watching it." - 38:10 - Jason Kapadia
“We're moving from a world where AI just outputs gives you answers to whatever you input to AI that takes actions, and that's a completely different level of trust.” - 41:55 - Jag Sharma
"As the conversation went on, I started to get suspicious that the person I was speaking to was not the person. It was an AI agent. And then it became very obvious, and I ejected. It didn't make me feel good. I feel like I'm being lied to." - 43:25 - Matt Webster
Links & references:
Matt Webster:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwwebster/
Jason Kapadia:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonkapadia/
https://www.instagram.com/jasonkapadia/
Jag Sharma: