Flip Phones, AI Hype, and Smart Glasses: What Readers Want Control Over

Three Tech Polls, a monthly HackerNoon newsletter, analyzes reader preferences from their weekly polls. Recent polls explored four topics: which old technology should return, how workplaces handle AI, proving the AI boom isn't hype, and whether smart glasses should be restricted in public. The most popular items to revive were flip phones (40%) and the iPod click wheel (21%), accounting for 61% of votes.

Other technologies, like Flappy Bird, Vine, and MySpace, received 33% support. The remaining 6% of respondents suggested specific platforms they wished to bring back, with one reader requesting Yahoo 360 as it was their personal teen blogging platform. Regarding AI usage at work, 88% of 86 respondents had management approval, with 57% fully supporting and 31% having limited use.

However, a separate survey found 66% of office staff used AI unapproved tools. The discrepancy suggests a gap between official policies and actual behavior. When asked what would prove the AI boom isn't hype, 49% of 49 voters prioritized financial considerations, including consistent profits, reduced investor dependence, or lower costs.

Productivity and adoption accounted for only 30% of the response. Professional investors are split, with 87% expecting AI to bolster corporate fundamentals but 56% believing the market is overoptimistic. Lastly, only 5% of 64 voters found AI glasses' recording lights sufficient; 63% wanted restrictions, and 25% thought existing laws should govern use.

The general consensus was that people want clear regulations rather than just a light. The article concludes with the notion that people prefer tangible evidence and enforceable rules to promises.