The Verge’s annual summer ‘in’ and ‘out’ list

In the AI slop-loaded, algorithm-powered modern reality, trends come and go — and the tech industry is no different. For the last few years, The Verge staff has compiled a selection of things that are IN for summer and OUT for summer — and each time there are some strong feelings. (Here are the last two years’ predictions.) Let’s do it again! The Verge’s annual summer ‘in’ and ‘out’ list What’s in, what’s out, and what’s a bit of both this summer. The Verge’s annual summer ‘in’ and ‘out’ list What’s in, what’s out, and what’s a bit of both this summer. Mia Sato, senior report IN | OUT | |---|---| | Motion sickness glasses | AI “pervert” glasses | | Fiber | Protein | | Bootleg sports merch | Official tech company merch | | Floating in water | Touching grass | Meredith Haggerty, editor IN | OUT | |---|---| | The great New York renaissance | The Great American State Fair | | The Knicks garbage can | Taylor Swift’s MSG wedding | | The Invite | Believing Olivia Wilde is a bad director | | Seeing through your own human eyes | The Kylie Jenner Meta glasses | Hayden Field, senior AI reporter IN | OUT | |---|---| | The NYC ferry | The NYC subway (sorry it’s too hot rn) | | Using AI to draft letters to your landlord | Using AI to draft breakup texts, or anything else personal | | Letterboxd | Threads | | Absolutely unhinged design ideas that AI could never come up with | Millennial minimalism | Victoria Song, senior dystopia reviewer IN | OUT | |---|---| | Flintstones vitamins | Gray market peptides | | Drugstore moisturizer | Looksmaxxing | | The FDA approving a new sunscreen filter | Whatever it is RFK Jr. is doing | | Writing in an analog journal | AI wearables that record everything you do | | Accepting we will all die | Whatever it is Bryan Johnson is doing | TC Sottek, senior editor IN | OUT | |---|---| | EverQuest (2026) | EverQuest (1999) | | Entire bootleg movies on TikTok | 20-part “story” edits on TikTok | | Boston as the most Scottish city in the US | Boston as the most Irish city in the US | Kevin McShane, editorial director audio/video IN | OUT | |---|---| | A single plain text file | Vibecoding your own to-do app | | Silo season three | Ted Lasso season four | | Vertical sitcoms | Vertical dramas | Kevin Nguyen, deputy editor IN | OUT | |---|---| | Any movie theater that does not serve food to your seat | Alamo Drafthouse | | Proton Mail | Gmail | | Buying refurbished devices | Buying new devices | Marina Galperina, senior tech editor IN | OUT | |---|---| | Leaks | Press releases | | Practical effects | Generative AI in movies | | Making computers | Buying computers | | Webrings | X, the everything app | | Letting your phone battery die | Doomscrolling | Gaby Del Valle, policy reporter IN | OUT | |---|---| | Being a bandwagon sports fan | Rivalries – lifelong, heated, etc | | Gelato | Frozen yogurt | | Dua Lipa’s joie de vivre | Kylie Jenner’s whole deal | | Mineral sunscreen | Beef tallow “sunscreen” | Antonio DiBenedetto, reviewer IN | OUT | |---|---| | Friendslop games | Live-service games | | Expensive PC gaming | Expensive console gaming | | xboX | XBOX | Liz Lopatto, senior internet typist IN | OUT | |---|---| | Unconstitutional Iran war | Peace | | The shortest inseam you can find and/or make | Pants | | Ceasefire | Unconstitutional Iran war | | World Cup | Owala tumblers and other adult sippy cups | | Unconstitutional Iran war | Ceasefire | | Major League Cricket (Go Unicorns!) | Major League Baseball | | Ceasefire | Unconstitutional Iran war | | McCartney II | Taylor Swift | | Unconstitutional Iran war | Ceasefire | | Excommunication | JD Vance | | Ceasefire | Unconstitutional Iran war | Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Most Popular Most Popular - Sony’s PlayStation disc factory is already being repurposed - Amazon has enough satellites to launch its Starlink competitor - Weber marks down grills and griddles to their best prices ever for July 4th - BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story - Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection