There’s been a lot of exciting tech coming out in the past several years, but alongside it there’s been some absolute stinkers.
From everything becoming a service to dark patterns in everyday interfaces, there’s plenty of annoyances to talk about.
Here’s 5 of the worst tech trends that have annoyed me throughout this decade.
Paid Subscription Hell
It feels like almost everything is based around a subscription format these days. From your music to your movies to your meal kits, there’s a way to pay a monthly fee for just about anything.
Even apps that used to be one-time purchases now opt for monthly or yearly subscriptions, which can spread the cost, but over time it’s easy to end up overpaying.
Not to mention free trials that require a credit card on file so they can automatically charge you when you forget to unsubscribe.
According to research from Deloitte in 2025, Australians spend an average of $78 per month on digital subscriptions, and the average household has 3.7 subscriptions – don’t forget that the statistic means there’s many people spending far more.
AI Everything
Every second product coming out in the past few years has been “AI-enhanced,” and it’s difficult to navigate as a consumer. Some use cases for machine learning in consumer products are genuinely useful, like AI image upscaling for TVs or inpainting for photo editing.
What I don’t need is an AI large language model in my refrigerator.
I can’t help but feel the wave of cramming chatbots into every product is far from over, and most are more annoying than helpful.
Overall, it seems like most implementations are a solution to a non-existent problem, and they’re massively glorified. For example, online shopping assistants that don’t do anything the regular search bar can’t do, or smart home chatbots that replaced a simple button.
Shocking phone prices
Phones have been getting more and more sophisticated, and a midrange phone these days is more than capable for just about anyone’s usage.
But on the high end, I can’t help but be shocked at how expensive these devices can be.
Most flagship phones these days are starting above $2000, and if you’re after the top-tier storage models you’re looking at nearly $3000.
With memory shortages continuing through this year, it’s safe to say these prices won’t be coming down any time soon.
Apps for everything
I tend to keep my phone fairly streamlined, only keeping the apps I need and actively use while deleting the rest. That’s been more difficult when just about everything I do these days has an app to download.
Parking the car? Use an app to pay.
Ordering food? Download the restaurant’s app for a discount.
Bought a new vacuum cleaner? Set it up with the companion app.
It seems you just can’t get away from apps for everything these days. It’s almost becoming a delight when I see a well-built web app that takes care of my needs instead of being sent to the app store.
Staff churning
In the game development industry, there has been a trend of late where companies lay off a significant amount of staff shortly after releasing a hit game.
In the news at the time of writing was developer EA announcing staff layoffs only 6 months after the release of Battlefield 6, which became the best-selling game of last year in the United States.
Game development is not the only industry with mass layoffs, with many tech industry companies undergoing restructuring driven by speculative reliance on AI-enhanced workflows.
It’s disheartening to see that even after breaking records with a product you helped ship, your job might still be on the line.
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