What have been the broken promises of computer technology?

When I was young, I was so amazed by the Web, because I love books and thought of it as one big infinite library. I thought it would help make people less ignorant and cure stupidity (hey I was a precocious 10 year old!). Oh boy, was I wrong, especially with the Advent of social media and fake news. People are just so addicted to gossipy tales instead of learning about the world.

my unfinished projects

It’s hard to say as computer technology is in a state of constant flux and has a hyper rate of evolution. But I would say,

1. Moore's law (now that transistors are getting extremely small, may have a solution in the future, tho)
2. General / Sentient AI (by the early 21st century , may be achieved by the mid 21st century)
3. And lastly but most importantly the lack of access to a free and open Internet as a human Right. There are too many place in the world which lack internet access entirely or restricted access. The biggest blow to a free and open internet is not China (although pretty bad) but Article 13 of the The European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market .

EDIT: In my original comment I said the biggest blow to internet freedom was the EU but I had meant Article 13 The European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.
Sorry for any confusion.🤦‍♂️

Freedom. Then GAFAM and other corporations came and like usual, they try to control everything.

An Easy life after doing bachelors in computer science.

Want to insert a new Promise() joke here but can't think of any.

Promise: with this new technology we'll all save a lot of work!
Reality: we only work harder and someone up the chain is making even more money than they did before.

Promise: with this new public transport chip card it's much easier to book train tickets!
Reality: train ticket subscription services have become incredibly complex so you're almost guaranteed to pay too much.

So far, the technology has met expectations. But as is often the case, it's the people that ruin it (current company excepted, of course). I appreciate the often introspective posts on dev.to. As is evidenced by the "what is your biggest weakness" posts, people here are willing to accept their own flaws and the flaws in others. The wider Internet would benefit greatly from being similarly introspective, as well.

Like my mom used to say, "when you're pointing the finger at someone, remember you have four more fingers pointing back at you."

Any technology that promises you can write one set of code to run on multiple platforms.

Do we begin with 'the paperless office' or jump straight to 'star trek'? ;-)

Faux-promises were broken, but anyone paying attention enough has always known the difference between someone legit & not. If you wanted to swallow it, you did. If you didn't you didn't.

The only actual thing broken is their chance of winning. If you have never had the wind in your face, it is very hard to handle when it finally arrives. Sorting hat is sorting.

It's just getting fun again.

Build some stuff because new things are on the way. Be the fixed promised. You people, right here reading this thread.

Every new technology promises to improve the world in some way. But in the end all of them are still wielded by humans. So they are used for both good and bad. And any net positive gain eventually becomes the new normal (read: boring and unappreciated, maybe even disdained).

So I guess the main broken promise is the implicit promise that tech can improve humanity. At best it only increases the convenience factor. (Not that I mind.)

Old optimistic view: "The Internet will give everyone a voice!"

Present reality: "Everyone has a voice and most of these people are awful!"

This is the year of the Linux desktop

We were on the right track until someone decided to start uploading cat videos to the internet.