Tech Setbacks: Elon Musk's Twitter To Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, What Left Us Dumbstruck In 2022

Technology has made rapid advancements but at times, there have been big failures as well. The year 2022 was no exception, with many companies, people and technologies suffering setbacks.

What Happened: From malfunctioning smart devices to overpriced flops, 2022 had its share of tech failures! Some gadgets and tech services failed to live up to the hype while others were just plain ridiculous — there was no shortage of disappointments in the tech world this year. 

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Here’s our list of a few of the big tech fails in 2022: 

1. Google Stadia 

Google Stadia launched in 2019, intending to revolutionize gaming by allowing players to access games from any device without downloads or installs. However, it quickly became clear that the service did not meet the hype. By December 2022, Google Stadia was considered one of the biggest tech failures in recent history. In October 2022, Google announced it would shut down the service and refund all users for hardware, content and add-on purchases. 

2. Apple iPhone 14 High-End Models

Issues disrupted iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max production at Foxconn's plant in China, where violent protests over pay erupted due to a payment system error. As this plant employs a large number of people and is a major manufacturing site for the iPhone 14 Pro series, the phones have largely been unavailable worldwide in 2022. 

Apple has acknowledged the issue and stated that they expect lower shipments of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max than initially anticipated. Customers may experience longer wait times to receive their orders.

3. Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse 

Facebook's rebranding to "Meta" and pivot to the "Metaverse" in 2022 was met with criticism. Its Horizon Worlds platform, which allows users to interact in a 3D virtual space and play games, failed to attract the expected 500,000 monthly users, with internal memos revealing that even its employees were uninterested in using it. 

As Meta's investment in the metaverse platform did not yield the expected results and coincided with a decline in ad revenue due to a weak global economy, investors pressured CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reduce investments in the division. In November, Meta's Reality Labs metaverse division reported a loss of $9.4 billion in the first three quarters of 2022.

4. Apple iPad 10th Generation

The 10th-generation entry-level iPad from Apple received criticism for its design and features. While it features a new design similar to the iPad Air and a faster A14 Bionic chipset, it is incompatible with the 1st generation Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. Instead, users must purchase an adapter for the Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard Folio, a new keyboard accessory exclusive to this model. 

Additionally, the 10th-generation iPad is more expensive than its predecessor, starting at $449, and the keyboard accessory costs an additional $249. These factors have led to the iPad being perceived as frustrating and underwhelming.

5. Elon Musk's Chaotic Twitter Takeover

Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter in 2022 was a tumultuous journey, starting with him becoming the company's largest shareholder in April and eventually making an offer to buy the company for $44 billion in July. 

After legal drama and chaos, he completed the takeover in October, firing top executives and laying off almost half of the global workforce. 

Since then, the platform has been significant changes, including the introduction of paid blue checkmarks and the restoration of previously banned accounts, causing widespread adverse reactions. 

A recent Twitter poll even found that about 58% of participants believed Musk should resign as CEO, to which he responded that he would resign as soon as he found someone "foolish enough" to take the role.

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