3 tech trends that took off during the pandemic

Being stuck inside has made many people pivot their hobbies to things that can be done indoors. Socialites and introverts alike have turned to simulated interaction for their regular fix of social interaction. Looking at the google search trends analysis of the search terms "PC gaming," "graphics card," and "multiplayer game" all trended highest between February and March 2020, which aligns pretty well with the beginning of most lockdown efforts. This is great news, since many have prophesied the death of PC gaming over the last few decades. One might say that the rumours of gaming's death have been greatly exaggerated. This is great news for anyone that is invested emotionally or financially in gaming at all, since demand drives growth and innovation.

Along the same vein as the previous topic, game streaming has seen a significant rise in viewers and content creators. While streaming has been on a fairly consistent uptick during the last decade, viewership, content creator accounts as well as revenue all exploded during the start of the COVID lockdowns. Looking at TwitchTracker, we can see that these numbers almost all more than doubled in between 2019 and 2021, compared to their previous yearly uptick of around 10-30%. This growth can be attributed to being stuck inside, but also perhaps more people are striving for a better work life balance and engaging in activities that they enjoy or perhaps even alternative revenue streams to help make up the difference of a lost job or cut hours. 

Perhaps the most surprising item on this list due to the high cost of entry, according to Google, interest in mechanical keyboards is at an all-time high. Perhaps people are sick of typing on mushy laptop keyboards and are trying to make their work from home setups more ergonomic by separating laptop and keyboard. It may even be the case that people have been bitten by the bug as a hobby that can be done at home or by mail order. Whether the cause is social distancing, ergonomics or bragging rights, it certainly is exciting that more people are picking up the hobby that many enthusiasts hold perhaps too close to their hearts. 

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