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Zhidong December 21 news, 2021 is coming to an end, yesterday, Reuters conducted an inventory of the hot words of science and technology in 2021, covering 12 popular directions such as metaverse, Web3, NFT, fabs and so on.
This year, tech CEOs drew inspiration from the science fiction of the 1990s to propose a "metacosm", the semiconductor industry supply chain restrictions have made the consumer electronics industry, the automotive industry unrest, the new crown epidemic has also spawned the development of real-time voice social platforms, the concept of decentralization of the Internet industry and the net zero emissions mentioned in the COP26 UN climate talks have swept the world.
In foreign countries, the popular "Diamonds Hands", "Apes" and other virtual currency investor jargon in the American online community platform Reddit have shaken Wall Street this year and infiltrated the mainstream market, as well as the strange and unfamiliar letters of NFT and DAO... These hot words have also attracted attention in the foreign technology industry.
If you're confused by the hot words above, you can refer to the short hot word information below.
Former Universe (Metaverse)
Some tech CEOs bet on metacosmum as a successor to the mobile internet. Metacosms typically refer to shared virtual worlds that people can access through the Internet, where people access a shared, immersive digital environment on a computer screen by wearing virtual reality or augmented reality headsets.
The term was coined three years ago in the dystopian novel Avalanche. In October, Facebook announced that it would rename the company Meta to reflect its new metaverse focus. Second, from Microsoft to online social platform Match Group, tech CEOs are discussing what they will build in the metaverse.
Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook changed its name to Meta (image source is the conversation)
Web3
Web3 is used to describe the next potential stage of the Internet: decentralized applications running on the blockchain that all users can participate in building and using without the need to leak personal data.
This model of user ownership of platforms and apps will be different from today's internet, known as Web2, where several major tech giants such as Facebook and Alphabet (a Google-owned company) control these platforms.
In the era of Web2, tech giants controlled all the information on the Internet, and Web3 emerged to solve this puzzle.
▲ The development process of the Internet era (image source is Yahoo News)
Social Audio
Real-time voice socialization refers to real-time voice conversations between users in one platform. Tech companies have hyped up tools for real-time audio conversations this year, rushed to release new products after the hustle and bustle, and U.S. social media platform Clubhouse has seen a sharp rise in subscribers during the COVID-19 lockdown by inviting users to download and use.
▲ U.S. social media platform Clubhouse
In June, Meta (Facebook's parent company) launched its own clubhouse-style live audio room, officially entering the social audio field. Around the same time, The American chat software Discord also launched its own live audio product. Music service platform Spotify has also launched its own real-time voice social platform, Greenroom. Similar products are being developed by Slack, a U.S.-based team collaboration software platform, LinkedIn,LinkedIn a microsoft-owned workplace social platform, and Reddit.
NFT (Non-Homogenized Token)
The full name of NFT is Non-Fungible Token. NFT has become so popular this year that it is a digital asset that exists on the blockchain and records of transactions are kept on networked computers. A variety of digital objects, including images, videos, music, texts, and even tweets, can be bought and sold as NFTs. Unlike most digital items that can be copied indefinitely, each NFT has a unique digital signature.
▲ On October 6, 2021, the artist group Die Dixons visited the city's NFT laboratory called "GAME OVER" in Berlin, Germany
In March, a work by American artist Mike Winkelman (nicknamed Beeple) sold for nearly $70 million at Christie's, the first non-physical auction at a major art auction house.
Decentralization
While the internet is built as a decentralized network, which means no one owns it, most of today's web traffic is controlled by major search engines and social media companies, such as Google and Meta, who can determine the rules of their own platforms.
Decentralization, which refers to the transfer of power and operations from central institutions such as companies or governments to users, has become a key theme in the tech industry. This shift could affect everything from how industries and markets are organized to capabilities such as content moderation on platforms.
For example, in August, Twitter funded Bluesky, an organization that aims to establish a common standard that will change the way social media platforms operate.
DAO (Distributed Autonomous Organization)
DAO, short for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is an internet community owned by its members and running on blockchain technology. The DAO is controlled by shareholders and is not influenced by the central government. Second, THE DAO uses smart contracts, which are snippets of code that establish community rules and automate decisions. Moreover, the financial transaction records and procedural rules of distributed autonomous organizations are kept in the blockchain.
At present, the exact legal status of distributed autonomous organizations is unclear.
In November, crowdfunding cryptocurrency group Concept DAO tried unsuccessfully to buy a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution at an auction held by Sotheby's.
▲ ConstitutionDAO released a blog post that will participate in the auction
Stonks (misspelling of "Stocks")
Stonks is a misspelling derived from "Stocks" and is widely spread across the Internet.
Stock online traders gathered on forums such as Wall Street betting on U.S. online social platform Reddit, pushing up stock prices including entertainment software retailer GameStop and cinema line operator AMC, Stonks quickly went viral to lament the crazy movement of these stocks.
▲ Reddit logo and Wall Street betting logo
The jargon of these traders is also becoming more mainstream, such as describing the impulsive, easy-to-head investor as "apes" or praising the "diamond hands" who hold firm positions when the market fluctuates sharply.
GameFi (Game Finance)
GameFi is a broad term that is the umbrella term for NFT+DeFi+ games, or Game Finance, which presents decentralized finance in a game way.
GameFi refers to the trend of gamers earning cryptocurrency by playing video games, and players can earn money by winning battles in the popular strategy game Axie Infinity by earning mechanisms such as financial tokens.
▲ Axie Infinity game interface (Image source is The National)
Altcoin
Altcoin is an abbreviation for Bitcoin alternative, which literally translates to "Bitcoin substitute". "Altcoin" means any type of cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Refers to the bitcoin code as a model, the underlying technology of the bitcoin blockchain has been partially modified after the blockchain currency.
According to price tracking website CoinMarketCap, there are more than 15,000 cryptocurrencies as of December 2021. Bitcoin accounts for more than 40% of the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies, Ethereum accounts for more than 20%, and altcoins account for the remaining market share, about 40%.
In December, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would allow Doge to be used to buy some merchandise.
Fully autonomous driving beta version FSD Beta
In October, Tesla released its upgraded fully autonomous driving beta version of the FSD Beta, a system of driver assistance features such as automatic lane changes and turns, to some users.
▲Tesla's logo
Videos posted by beta users show Tesla vehicles equipped with the latest 10.3 software repeatedly issuing collision warnings without immediate danger. Other users said in social media posts that some vehicles also braked automatically for no reason.
The name of the heavily scrutinized software is controversial in itself, with regulators and users saying it distorts its functionality because it's not fully autonomous and still requires driver attention.
Fabs (FABS)
Fabs, an acronym for semiconductor manufacturing plants, have entered the mainstream vocabulary this year.
Supply chain shortages in the semiconductor industry have affected consumer electronics, data centers, automobiles, home appliances and other industries.
Net Zero
Cop26 in Glasgow this year's UN climate talks mention that a growing number of governments and companies have pledged to reduce their climate change carbon pollution to net zero.
Net zero refers to near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, these committed governments and companies do not reduce carbon emissions, but rely on carbon-absorbing efforts such as tree planting to balance carbon emissions.
But critics say any emissions are unacceptable.
Conclusion: Twelve Hot Words Overview of Tech Trends 2022
As 2021 draws to a close, the hottest metaverse concept of this year, the cryptocurrency industry and the supply chain constraints of the semiconductor industry are the most concerning, and secondly, the development of the Internet industry Web 3.0 is also closely related to us.
The most concerned technology hot words also illustrate the development process of the Internet to a certain extent, which is also the development trend of the technology industry in 2022.
However, the technology industry is changing rapidly, how long will these hot words continue in 2022?
Source: Reuters