OMelhorde2016

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Tech

A year of exploding tech, unrelenting hacks, and countercultural forces.

Do You Know What Happened In Tech In 2016?

The [Note7 quite literally exploded](https://www.buzzfeed.com/blakemontgomery/samsung-exploding-note7-recalls-so-screwed-right-now), leading Samsung to recall its flagship smartphone before anyone even knew the source of the problem; [fake news on Facebook](https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo?utm_term=.tvRgd2GYv#.gcVqVypRM) convinced your relatives that completely made up hoaxes about the US presidential candidates were true, and Facebook [didn't do anything](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/2016-election-blew-up-in-facebooks-face?utm_term=.kez2WdVxg#.ceAoG8NR1) to stop it; and [Theranos](https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemlee/heres-what-troubled-the-fda-when-it-inspected-theranos-this?utm_term=.nv2LAxqv9e#.ahyGrw36Yv) went from being worth $9 billion to approximately $0 after the Wall Street Journal revealed that the company's proprietary blood testing machines were putting patients in danger.

Everything exploded. Oof.

What tech blew up in 2016?

The maker of the iPhone [fought the DOJ](https://www.buzzfeed.com/hamzashaban/apple-helped-the-government-extract-data-before-heres-why-th?utm_term=.pkBQlqZp1#.utQYM3OQJ) over the security of the San Bernadino shooter's iPhone; boxed with [Samsung in court](https://www.buzzfeed.com/hamzashaban/supreme-court-sides-with-samsung-in-patent-war-with-apple) over patent rights related to the design of the Galaxy line of smartphones; and told the public that the headphone jack, one of the oldest plugs out there, wasn't useful anymore when the company released the [jack-less iPhone 7](https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/inside-iphone-7-why-apple-killed-the-headphone-jack?utm_term=.gujk6erYv#.ddDaxdbw6).

Apple had many battles to fight in 2016.

Whom did Apple fight in 2016?

Snap Inc seems to have the cool factor. Facebook and Instagram both introduced [disappearing message features](https://www.buzzfeed.com/mathonan/instagram-adds-disapearing-stories-to-encourage-more-casual) in their apps in 2016, and Instagram directly copied "Stories," but [Snapchat's user base doesn't seem to have declined](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/instagrams-snapchat-clone-hasnt-hurt-snapchats-user-numbers) in response. Here's to hoping we won't see Facebook glasses any time soon.

The artist formerly known as Snapchat

Facebook and Instagram copied what other company a lot in 2016?

[Hillary Clinton's emails](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/instagrams-snapchat-clone-hasnt-hurt-snapchats-user-numbers), released by WikiLeaks (almost certainly provided by Russia), dogged her throughout her campaign; [government agencies](https://www.buzzfeed.com/blakemontgomery/us-agency-that-certifies-voting-machines-was-hacked-after-th), even ones that certified the security of voting machines, were hacked; hackers broke into Yahoo to steal info on [1.5 billion of its users](https://www.buzzfeed.com/blakemontgomery/one-billion-more-yahoo-accounts-have-been-hacked); and the Internet of Things almost took down the entire internet when hackers attacked the server provider Dyn by infiltrating your connected refrigerator. And there are likely other hacks we don't know about, yet.

ALL HACKS ALL THE TIME

Who got hacked in the USA 2016?

[Harassment](https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/a-honeypot-for-assholes-inside-twitters-10-year-failure-to-s?utm_term=.plGPBQeD8#.iuwyKN73R), no one wanted to [buy the company](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/despite-business-struggles-and-a-messy-quarter-twitter-is-at), [more harassment](https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/after-reporting-abuse-many-twitter-users-hear-silence-or-wor?utm_term=.onBzD2Jvjk#.sxMm7Yo1Oq), navigating the popularity of [Donald Trump's Twitter](https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/twitter-board-member-twitter-helped-trump-win-the-election), slowing user growth, continued harassment, executive departures, and [shutting down Vine](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/twitter-is-killing-vine). No fun.

2016 was rough for Twitter.

How was Twitter's year?

The loosely affiliated white nationalist movement that calls itself the alt-right coalesced from the more aggressive forces of the internet: [trolls prone to racist and sexist harassment](https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/in-2016-an-anti-troll-hero-came-to-my-rescue?utm_term=.sqqkRAV9p#.kolPN8AZ2). They were overwhelmingly pro-Donald Trump and were [overjoyed at his victory](https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/alt-right-internet-trolls-are-already-emboldened-by-trumps-v) in the election. As one 4chan user put it: "We actually memed a president into office."

"We memed a president into office" — 4chan user

The darkest corners of the internet converged into what 2016 countercultural force?

[Uber](https://www.buzzfeed.com/priya/self-driving-ubers-in-san-francisco?utm_term=.gbOdPq8E56#.otObvDVZER), [Google](https://www.buzzfeed.com/brendanklinkenberg/googles-self-driving-car-has-caused-its-first-accident?utm_term=.uvQN2wODyK#.ou2zo9j4kX), [Tesla](https://www.buzzfeed.com/brendanklinkenberg/why-some-jerks-misusing-teslas-autopilot-make-a-strong-case), and others have tested self-driving cars in the streets, but you still can't buy one, and no one is sure if they're safe yet. We'll have to wait to commute in an autonomous pod.

Maybe someday

Are self-driving cars transforming the roads of America into something more like "The Jetsons"?

Do you live in the Dark Ages?

Do you know even know who Mark Zuckerberg is?

Are you the reincarnation of Nikola Tesla?

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