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Hard Fork’s 50 Most Iconic Technologies of 2025

Overview

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Hard Fork’s 50 Most Iconic Technologies of 2025

Hard Fork

2 DAYS AGO
Hard Fork

Hard Fork

2 DAYS AGO
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Last year we debuted Hard Fork’s 100 Most Iconic Technologies list, in which we ranked the technologies from across all of history that best define life as we know it. To our surprise, it became one of our most popular episodes ever. So now we’re doing it ...

Highlights

This year, Hard Fork returns with a fresh countdown: the 50 Most Iconic Technologies of 2025. Moving beyond gadgets and apps, the list dives into unexpected innovations—from ancient systems to futuristic AI—that have quietly shaped the world in profound ways. With sharp commentary and a touch of humor, the hosts explore what technology really means in an age where code, culture, and infrastructure collide.
08:03
Air conditioning, invented in 1902 for a printing plant, has had profound societal impacts.
23:40
Claude Code expected to make about a billion dollars in its first year
32:02
EUV lithography is essential for manufacturing AI chips powering modern technology.
37:20
Google's AI advancements with 'Nano Banana' model
54:26
DeepSeek R1, an open-source Chinese AI model, caused a U.S. stock market downturn due to fears over AI spending.
1:00:30
Glass is crucial for fiber-optic internet and inspired major tech designs
1:03:22
ChatGPT has become a household name chatbot.
1:12:36
Data centers are the largest infrastructure project in America.

Chapters

What Makes a Technology Truly Iconic in 2025?
00:00
From Cybertrucks to Collectibles: The Rise of Cultural Tech
10:49
How Gaming, AI, and Invisible Tools Are Reshaping Daily Life
26:11
Nature-Inspired Inventions Meet the AI Energy Boom
37:20
Can Wheat and Open-Source AI Change the World Overnight?
51:37
When AI Goes Too Far: Mecha-Hitler and the TikTok Survival Story
57:27
ChatGPT's Meteoric Rise and the Wild West of Political Crypto
1:03:22
Why Data Centers Became the Most Important Technology of 2025
1:09:16

Transcript

Casey Newton: Hey, it's John Chase and Mari Uehara from Wirecutter, the product recommendation service from the New York Times. Mari, it is gift giving time. John, we have over 40 gift guides, like gifts for people who have everything on that list. I parti...