Tech Hype Strikes Again
December 9, 2019
A Silicon Valley start-up that developed an augmented reality headset sold only six thousand of them in the first six months of availability, far short of the “at least” one million units its chief executive once promised investors, and even below the one hundred thousand later predicted—and now the company reportedly faces money problems. Such overhyping of new technologies has become common and is leading to economic losses and slowing innovation, an independent consultant recently argued in Issues, calling on all parties involved to “evaluate the economic promise of emerging technologies in more realistic ways.”