Plot twist: Smartglasses actually focused on vision
It’s Thomas, TNW’s managing editor, and I’m starting to see the future more clearly. Why? Two reasons — both from a single story.
Written by TNW contributor Siôn Geschwindt, the piece features an interview with the CEO of Finnish startup IXI. It outlines a bold ambition: to create the world’s first autofocus glasses — and remove the need for reading specs. Being vision-impaired, I was thrilled by the prospect.
I’ve always hated glasses. I was prescribed them for shortsightedness as a kid, but refused to wear them for years. Back then, I’d rather sit inches from the TV than don those horrid specs. The upside: a prime spot next to the radiator and far from my annoying sisters on the couch. The downside: my eyes quickly got worse. And now, farsightedness is creeping in. Reading glasses or bifocals seemed inevitable — until IXI offered a promising alternative.
As for my second moment of clarity, that came from the article’s reception. It was our most-read piece of the month — a relief after a rough few weeks for page views. So I dug into our analytics for fresh clues about our top performers.
I discovered that our five most popular stories this year had absolutely nothing in common — at least, not on the surface.
There was a “viable” fusion reactor plan, Ukrainian drones dodging jamming, a European LLM alternative to Big Tech, a French satellite firm plotting to rival Starlink, and those autofocus glasses. Different topics, styles, and audiences — but there was one trait they all shared: original reporting on impactful technologies. Well, almost all of them.
Because one outlier owes its numbers to the king of clickbait, the man who plagues tech journalism like a virus that both sustains and destroys us: Elon Musk, the Starlink CEO. It was his name, face, and controversies that attracted most of those eyes to the French satellite firm. Damn you, Elon — and thank you.
And thank you, too, for reading. Without your support, European tech journalism would be in trouble. And as the recent layoffs at TechCrunch, Business Insider, and TNW itself show, that threat is all too real. If you want to give us another boost, check out our best reads from last week below.
What else we’re writing about
💂 Starmer tells UK to ‘push past’ AI job fears as tech leaders raise alarm. The British PM has high hopes for artificial intelligence.
🏝️ World’s biggest sand battery to heat Finnish town without fossil fuels. The device could help regions across Europe wean off natural gas.
🛰️ Europe’s $3.1B satellite merger won’t rival Musk’s Starlink. SES–Intelsat marriage will be dwarfed by its competitors.
🛍️ Live selling: the next big hustle sweeping Europe. China’s live selling market is worth over €700bn — now Europe’s building its own version.
🚜 Exclusive: New autonomous tractor can shift from farming to warfare. The electric machine is just as good with crops as with combat.
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