The year 2010 were the scene of many successes in the world of high tech. Here are the ten products and services that marked the decade.

Before 2010, there was the creation of Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr and even the iPhone. The last decade has been marked by the arrival of high-tech services and products that have revolutionized uses and have become established in the space of a few years in the daily lives of millions of citizens. Subjective and non-exhaustive selection of the ten high tech success stories from the 2010-2019 period.

1. Netflix (1997)

The last decade does not rhyme with the creation of Netflix (1997) but with its popularization. Initially a DVD rental service, the SVOD platform conquered 6 million French people. While being rejected by a part of the environment. Because Netflix blockbusters are watched from a sofa. Not in a cinema.

The controversy arose in 2017. That year, Netflix presented the Korean film Okja at the Cannes Film Festival. From the following year, the release of a film at the cinema becomes the sine qua non condition to enter it into competition. Netflix productions are therefore excluded from Cannes, despite a plebiscite abroad.

Among the notable productions, there are the series Stranger Things, Black Mirror, The Crown or Sex Education. As for films, we find The Irishman by Martin Scorsese, The Laundromat: The Affair of Panama Papers by Steven Soderbergh, Marriage Story by Noah Baumbach or the animated feature film Klaus.

2. Amazon Kindle (2009) 

Amazon, whose initial activity was the distance selling of physical books, put on digital work in the late 2000s. The Kindle went on sale in France in November 2009. The first model is devoid of backlight and uses electronic ink, so as not to tire the eyes when reading. Other versions will follow this time with backlit screens. Millions of ebooks are now available on the online store.

3. iPad (2010)

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, presents the iPad in 2010. It is not the first tablet marketed by the brand but an evolution - much more successful - of the Newton tablet, a “personal digital assistant” put on the market in 1993 and abandoned five years later. The iPad quickly met with great success. Apple boasted at the time that it had sold more than three million copies in three months. Today, the Apple tablet comes in several models: iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad and iPad mini.

4. Google Chromecast (2013)

In 2013, Google introduced the Chromecast. A device to plug into the HDMI port of your TV. Via Wi-Fi, it communicates with any other device connected to the Internet (smartphone, computer, tablet, etc.) in order to display the multimedia content of a compatible application (YouTube, Netflix or Canal for example) on the television. In summary, you no longer need to connect your computer to your television via an HDMI cable to watch your favorite content. In 2019, the Chromecast (in classic or 4K compatible version) remains an equally relevant accessory, sold for less than 40 euros.



Despite the success of previous models in the Galaxy S range, Samsung is still the default alternative to the iPhone. With the Galaxy S6, the South Korean climbs a step. The plastic design of the Galaxy S5 gives way to a new, much more elegant glass appearance. The camera also stands out for its photo quality. In the world of smartphones, the year 2015 marks the arrival of a rival at the height of Apple.

7. Nintendo Switch (2017)

Neither a portable console nor a living room console. The Nintendo Switch does both. The Japanese company hopes to get its head out of the water with this new device presented in 2017. Because the range of Nintendo 3DS consoles has suffered from the rise of mobile games. Nintendo Switch quickly finds its audience. In Europe alone, more than 10 million units have been sold. And almost 42 million worldwide.


Google’s “smart” speaker was released in 2017 in France. Long before Amazon's Echo and Apple's HomePod, both available since 2018. Connected speakers equipped with a voice assistant quickly found their place in homes: 1.7 million French people would use them, according to one 2018 Médiamétrie study.

These devices are mainly used to listen to music, or answer basic questions. After a good start, the evolution of their artificial intelligence will be crucial for their longevity in the coming decade.

9. iPhone X (2017)

Ten years after the first iPhone, Apple is celebrating the event with a smartphone with a radically different design that will become one of the benchmarks of the late 2010s. The iPhone X introduces major innovations such as the edge-to-edge OLED screen and the appearance of the Face ID function. The physical button history is sacrificed. A small revolution at Apple, when the brand was criticized for its lack of innovation.

Two years after Samsung, it's Huawei's turn to pose as a real alternative to Apple in the high-end world. Despite excellent mobiles, the Chinese brand had previously played on value for money to seduce. The Huawei Mate 10 Pro symbolizes the rise of this new player. It stands out for its remarkable design, which makes it one of the most attractive smartphones of the moment. Huawei will further confirm this trend by marketing new premium mobiles, among the most innovative.

Realme, a brand belonging to the group behind Oppo and OnePlus, has announced wireless headphones. They strangely look like Apple AirPods.

Realme has formalized its AirPods-style wireless headphones and, guess what, they look like… AirPods. The Chinese brand belonging to the Oppo / OnePlus group did not want to take a risk with its Buds Air, announced for the moment in India for around fifty euros. They still stand out on one point: they are available in three colors (white, yellow and black). Like the classic counterfeits, dropshippées in our countries.

Just in terms of design, we're clearly in the copy, less in the inspiration. If we can understand that AirPods make manufacturers want to go into an increasingly crowded and popular segment, it must be recognized that Realme does nothing. Or rather if: a "gaming" mode.

Popular on the stock market, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook have become the target of regulators and politicians, and even some of their employees. A look back at five key dates that

.marked the year of the four tech giants

                                                  The year 2019 was a double-edged sword for Google, Apple, Google and Amazon, aka the Gafa. On the stack side: the small strip is part of the top 6 of world market capitalizations (alongside Aramco and Microsoft) and their price reaches or approaches their historic  highs at the end of December

The four of them have a capitalization of over 3.650 billion dollars. Apple alone (1.260 billion) is worth more than the entire American energy sector (Chevron, Exxon Mobil, etc.)! This shows the confidence that the financial markets place in their economic model and their prospects

On the face of it: never has distrust of them been so intense. It is expressed by certain employees and former leaders, but also in public opinion, among politicians and regulators around the world. In recent months, their image has deteriorated. Their “coolness” of facade does not deceive many people and many are those who speak out against their practices and go to war to break their hegemony. Close-up on the five dates that marked this dark year for Gafa.

  

1) March 8: Elizabeth Warren's call

Elizabeth Warren's March 8 call was not made by radio but by publication on Medium. "It is time to dismantle our largest technology companies," wrote the Democrat Senator, who intends to challenge Trump in 2020, bluntly. "Large technology companies have [...] too much power over our economy, our society and our democracy." A vision shared by Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook, and which agitates public opinion in the United States.

In Europe, a certain Margrethe Vestager is not on the same line. However, the one who has already imposed more than 8 billion euros in cumulative fines on Google cannot be called "pro-Gafa". Far from it. But the vice-president of the European Commission, where she acts as a competition policeman, judges that a dismantling would only fragment the interlocutors and divide the problem. Failing to adjust it.

"There is always the risk that after having cut off the head, others will appear," she imagined in early November. But everyone agrees on one point: the Gafa situation cannot remain as it is, the status quo only benefits the small click of the four giants.

2) July 11: The Gafa tax adopted in France

To every lord, every honor: the Gafa are entitled to a tax on their (on) name. First of all: France, whose Parliament adopted this neo-tax in the middle of summer. Designed to circumvent the tax optimization of tech giants, it amounts to 3% of turnover. This concerns digital companies that generate more than 750 million euros in annual global revenue, including 25 million in France.

But the Paris decision provokes an outcry in Washington. In retaliation, the White House threatened, in early December, to impose customs duties of up to 100% on the equivalent of $ 2.4 billion in French products. The message from the Trump administration is clear: do not touch our national champions without agreeing with us.

This could be worth Facebook's entry in the Guinness Book. But not sure that we slashed champagne near Menlo Park on June 13. Still ... That day, the FTC fined Facebook $ 5 billion for violating the privacy of its users in the “Cambridge Analytica” scandal. A record for a "tech" company.

Facebook: why Zuckerberg is struggling to convince the refocusing on privacy

At the announcement, Wall Street reacted immediately ... and positively since the Facebook share climbed by almost 2%. Admittedly, the FTC hit hard but does not "break" the economic model of the giant which remains a "cash machine" thanks to its targeted advertisements sold to advertisers.

"When groups can break the law, pay large fines and continue to generate profits, while keeping their economic model intact, the authorities cannot declare victory", tackle, a few weeks later, Rohit Chopra, one Commissioners serving on the FTC. Especially since this sanction, which serves as an example, has not prevented the giant from being caught again in the bag since then.

Personal data: is Apple really the right student?

However, if Facebook is the most pointed out among the Gafa, it is not the only one to flirt with the yellow line. This summer, Amazon, Google and Apple were all implicated for their collection of personal data via their voice assistants (Alexa, Assistant and Siri). Enough to hinder Apple, which is trying to set itself up as herald of privacy protection among the tech giants.