If there’s one event that has completely defined and shaped this decade then that undeniably was the pandemic. It came from nowhere and it completely changed the way we understood the world, economics, and even our day-to-day lives. However, in true human nature, it also became a platform to adapt, change and develop new technologies that allowed us to circumvent many of the issues that came with it.
And if there’s one area where the impact of the pandemic left an irreversible change then that is technology. When it came to new solutions for entertainment., health, and even work nothing came close to the advance of technology and software. This is why today we want to take a look at some of those areas that changed forever and how we continue to see advances in those fields to this day.
Everything is online, now more than ever
Once it became apparent that the pandemic was going to be a long one, the immediate impact on the internet was made apparent, and the use of the internet spiked globally.
While it makes perfect sense that people turned to the internet for entertainment and communication, something important to note is that for most people the effect is still being felt to this day. Most websites still report higher traffic to this day than they had before the pandemic started and online shopping in particular experienced a large boom as a result of these new habits.
As of this year, the general trend shows that at least 20% of all purchases will be made online, meaning that 1/5th of all commerce is taking place right now on our screens, phones, and PCs. Online shopping is here to stay, and while the return on travel has reduced the expenses of the average consumer compared to 2020, it still remains considerably higher than it was in 2019.
If there’s one trend to take away from this is that any business looking to grow and increase sales will need a strong online component to capitalize. And any company that to this day refuses to have an online component is losing a potential 1/5th of its sales, no matter what its product or service is.
It’s all about remote services now
When lockdown started around the world we saw an increase in the number of remote meeting software in the world, from Microsoft Teams to Google Meets and of course Zoom. And while each one came with its caveats and even a few controversies, the undeniable fact is that they changed work and education forever.
Remote meeting software has opened doors that many people never considered before, and taught an entire generation that it is possible to coordinate and deliver real results remotely. While web call software has existed for well over 20 years the fact is that it had never seen as widespread use as it does now, and that has opened a lot of doors.
Perhaps the most notorious change that came with this trend was the new willingness for businesses to hire remote workers, including those from other countries. It’s a shift in methodology that we are seeing even in the movie industry, where physicality had long been essential for development. And that means that not only are potential employees discovering many new listings in positions that would have been impossible a few years ago, but a lot of companies are also reducing costs by reducing the number of their offices and focusing on remote workers as the backbone of their productivity.
Live streaming is everywhere
Live streaming might not feel as impactful to most people as the above two examples, but the change it has experienced in the last few years is nothing short of breathtaking.
For a long time, live streaming app development felt like a very specific niche that was only relevant to gamers, but as people searched for new venues of entertainment in 2020 it developed into a completely new landscape. Today any company that can build a live-streaming app will have a considerable advantage, and more and more firms are looking into it. Big brands like Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network have participated in official deals with industry giants like Twitch to stream their content with millions of spectators for it.
And in what is one of the biggest technology news recently the video streaming app development company Click just signed a $100 million deal with Twitch Star xQc. Showing that not only is there a very profitable market waiting to be discovered in streaming, but that early adopters will get a chance to be the next Netflix in what most likely will become one of the most important entertainment venues of the decade.