Bold tech predictions for 2020

In 2019, WeWork collapsed, presidential candidates trashed Big Tech, and we learned to fear our Ring cameras. 

So what’s coming in 2020? Mashable’s writers got together to consider what’s coming next in the world of tech. 

Instagram becomes the new QVC

There’s a big shift happening on Instagram — and, no, I’m not talking about your disappearing likes. Instagram has been quietly laying the groundwork to become an online shopping paradise.

One year after introducing Instagram Shopping, which lets businesses link to specific products, the company added Checkout, which lets you buy those products without leaving the app. The company still only lets a handful of brands participate in Checkout — insisting that it’s still “early days” — but the company has been clear that it sees shopping as one of its “big bets” for the future. 

And there are signs this effort has been ramping up in recent months. The company added an augmented reality try-on feature, and introduced curated shopping “collections” for the holidays. And with Facebook’s latest arch-nemesis, TikTok, now also delving into the world of e-commerce, you can bet Instagram won’t be far behind. 

– Karissa Bell

Night photography will become standard

In late 2018, Google changed the smartphone photography game with software-based nighttime photography on its Pixel phones. All you had to do was download an update and suddenly your low-light photos looked way better than before. It was genuinely like magic.

Like it has done so many times before, Apple cribbed the idea and made it even better on the iPhone 11. OnePlus and Huawei implemented similar ideas in their phones in 2019, too. In 2020, every new phone will (or at least should) come with this feature.

– Alex Perry

Electric car prices will start to come down

With more all-electric and hybrid models coming from nearly every carmaker, expect to see prices start to level out. Even if sticker prices don’t drop, you’ll get more bang for your buck. 

It mostly comes down to batteries. Prices are expected to drop since battery manufacturing is getting cheaper while energy density is going up. If battery packs aren’t as expensive, there is hope yet for cheaper EVs, Zane Mcdonald, EV expert and policy analyst at S&P Global Platts, told Mashable.

Don’t celebrate too soon: Instead of carmakers building EVs with smaller (cheaper) batteries with average range (around 125 miles), they could opt for vehicles with longer range. That means bigger batteries without a price increase. 

As the first mainstream EV from a mass-market brand, Ford’s upcoming Mustang Mach-E could be a game-changer, says Kelsey Mays, senior consumer affairs editor at Cars.com. Special editions of the 200-mile range compact SUV should hit by the end of 2020. It could be the first in a long line of more affordable, spacious, and longer range EVs to hit the market. 

– Sasha Lekach

Privacy will become a status symbol

Forget likes, follower counts, or 15 minutes of fame. In 2020, being able to successfully and, perhaps, conspicuously ignore the requirements of the always-on age will be seen as a sign of success and cultural cachet. 

Spending one’s time transparently schilling for digital clout — instead of, say, actually doing something — will be seen as trying too hard. This cultural shift will manifest in all kinds of ways, from more people ghosting social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram to a larger understanding that giving yourself away to Silicon Valley is worse than just déclassé.    

This idea, that privacy is the new status symbol, will manifest in the fashion we wear, the culture we consume, and the tech we buy. Imagine cocktail parties where people no longer swap social media handles to stay in touch, but instead discuss the latest encryption tech and efforts remove personal data from the internet.

A little bit of mystery, after all, has always held a strong sex appeal. 

– Jack Morse

Legit medical tech companies will escape Theranos’ shadow

Since Elizabeth Holmes was exposed as a fraud, investors have shunned any company with a mission that sounds remotely like what Theranos claimed it was able to do. 

But that could change: 2020 could be a big year for companies with (more realistic and scientifically sound) dreams of bringing convenient, minimally invasive medical testing into the home.

“There’s a pent-up demand,” said Dr. Paul Yager, a leader in point-of-care medical testing and professor at the University of Washington. 

While no companies are promising what Theranos did — that was medically impossible — there is a renewed buzz around ideas and companies that are offering more limited at-home testing, as well as companies that want to simplify mail-in testing.

“I’m seeing a bit of a revival,” Yager said. “There seems to be a sense in the business community that something is about to give.”

– Rachel Kraus