Windows Central's own Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino recently proposed that people were far more enthusiastic about Big Tech companies a decade ago, with fans championing specific products (think iPhone vs Windows Phone, iPad vs Microsoft Surface), but now those days are gone, and those sentiments are seriously subdued.
He posited that the reason for this is that people are experiencing innovation fatigue and are tired of feeling taken advantage of, perfectly encapsulated in this sentence: "We’re no longer customers, just consumers, and most tech companies only aim to extract as much profit from us as possible."
Hardware is no longer an extension of ourselves — it's a separate entity
Continuing Daniel's discussion, it's not that people are no longer interested in hardware from the most influential companies these days; after all, it's almost impossible to exist in this world without tech. No, we'll always need and want devices, but we just don't love them anymore, and for good reason.
Back in the day, if I bought a laptop, phone, or other device, I'd customize it until it functioned just the way I liked it. Whatever I bought served as a tool that did exactly what I wanted (within a device's capabilities) and only when I instructed it. The software largely stayed the same aside from manual changes that I instigated. To an extent, those devices thoroughly represented me and my desires, and so it was easy to love them.
But that stability and permanence are gone.
Many modern devices no longer feel like they really belong to us. Sure, I might own the hardware, but its soul is on loan and likely to change, thanks to the internet. That connection means that many of our devices are constantly getting updates that can drastically alter our user experience and how we feel about our devices.
Going back to the relationship angle, "you've changed" is perhaps one of the most common cliches people use for distancing themselves from their partners, but the same is true for our tech relationships.
Typically, when someone pursues a serious relationship or buys something, they do so because they are interested in how something behaves and interacts with them at that time. If, down the line, the object of our focus changes too drastically from what drew us to it in the first place, our feelings toward it can change from amicable to disinterested or even resentful.
Microsoft pulled its controversial Recall feature from its initial launch date due to backlash and postponed Recall's rollout until a full year later. Now, Recall is an opt-in feature that only works if you enable it.
There's the very real possibility that a feature you aren't comfortable with could get added to your device in an update, like the controversial Windows Recall feature that some saw as a security risk. Similarly, your phone might get an update that forces drastic interface changes that you do not like and cannot undo.
It's also possible that your favorite features could be removed from your device or that an update could ruin your setup, like how several people reported that their SSDs had been bricked following Microsoft's release of Windows 11 version 24H2 security update KB5063878 in August 2025.
Of course, we can go into settings and make changes or find homebrew fixes, customizing many of these devices after each update, so it works the way we want it to, or so it basically goes back to previous features. The problem is, this turns our tech relationship into a battle rather than a partnership, and many average consumers don't want to deal with that hassle. It's easier to check out than to care.
Then there's the possibility that the device you've loved for so long suddenly won't be supported anymore, as happened with Windows 10 end of life. You might find yourself forced to consider security workarounds or potentially even have to buy new hardware.
Sure, I might own the hardware, but its soul is on loan and likely to change, thanks to the internet.
Outside of updates and unexpected changes, our devices also don't have our interests at heart, but rather the interests of the companies that benefit from our tech use. Like a capitalist Big Brother, they track our habits in order to thrust ads, social media stories, and products in our faces without us asking for these things. For example, Windows 11 wants to run ads in the Start menu.
Like with any bad relationship, sometimes we're told that a company is forcing a change on our tech for our best interest, when really, it's for the device's best interest, funneling us toward specific products, limiting our ability to use the software we want.
Perhaps the worst offense is when someone excitedly buys fun gadgets, only for these devices to constantly ping you like a socially-inept Momtrepeneur friend that cannot get the hint that you aren't interested in their offerings. They just want you to spend, spend, spend — I'm looking at you, Amazon.
Amazon Fire TVs push ads on the screen when you pause your shows, Amazon Prime Video forces ads unless you pay for the premium option, Alexa won't stop talking about her new voice when all you wanted was for your Echo Dot to tell you the day's weather. It's a frustrating experience that cheapens these products and fosters ill-will rather than loyalty or even satisfaction. Over time, people can come to resent their devices.
At the end of the day, modern tech can come to feel more like an invasive entity, a third-party hovering in our homes waiting to make unwanted changes to our routines. Worst of all, instead of deftly wielding a device to do what we want, it can feel like the device is trying to wield us. There's no reason to be loyal or even excited about a device that makes you feel like that.
Well, I've rambled enough; now it's your turn. Do you think tech is less exciting now than it was 10 years ago? If so, why do you think that is? Tell us in the comments.
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