ChatGPT lands on tech tree's central trunk with Google and iPhone; Facebook and TikTok called side branches
NathanpmYoung · x · 2026-10-30
A widely shared tweet sorts 10 landmark tech products of the past 30 years into humanity's "central tech tree trunk" vs. optional side branches:
- Central trunk: Google Search (1998), YouTube (2005), AWS (2006), iPhone (2007), ChatGPT (2022)
- Side branches: Wikipedia (2001), Facebook (2004), Netflix (2007), Bitcoin (2009), TikTok (2016)
The most provocative calls: Facebook and TikTok as side branches despite their scale, while ChatGPT reaches the trunk within three years — the criterion being whether a product changes how everyone works and lives, not user counts.
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