Our Picks for the Best New Luxury Tech of the Decade

In a decade of head-spinning, rapid and deeply transformational technological advances, which of the many new products, services and tech gadgets merit addition to the top 10 list of the best new tech innovations of the decade? Our correspondent Julie Chang Murphy has compiled our picks of the 10 best new luxury tech innovations of the past decade.

the top 10 list of the best new tech products and services of the decade

December always brings a plethora of “Best of the year” lists. But this year is extra special, as it also marks the end of the decade.

To show how far we’ve come, we thought it would be fun (and worthwhile) to recap the top 10 tech products and services of the past decade.  Or if not the best, at least the most important and transformational. The ones that have changed our lives in the past ten years.

It’s hard to believe we’ve ever lived without some of them (Uber and Venmo- we’re looking at you). And while many of these products and services still have plenty of vocal and ardent critics, even if we don’t like them, their influence on our culture is too significant to ignore.

As we surveyed the landscape to pull this list together, it seems that one of the few common threads that unite us all is our penchant for convenience and desire for connectivity with like-minded people and our loved ones.

10 best new luxury tech innovations of the past decade

So let’s take a trip down memory lane and examine the brave new world that we call home. In no particular order, here are our picks for the 10 best new luxury tech innovations of the past decade. Whether these have made our lives better or worse is totally your call.

1. Wearable Fitness trackers

The first wearable fitness tracker to gain mainstream attention was the Fitbit in 2009. Since then, the concept has been embellished and improved upon, with ever increasing sophistication and features, by companies like Garmin, Suunto. 

And of course, the crème de la crème- the Apple Watch.  People are now able to easily monitor and manage the three pillars of health: exercise, diet and sleep. And they can achieve the first round of truly personalized medical care as a result. As they say, information is power.

2. Global Entry 

Ask any frequent international traveler, particularly a “road warrior” type who is constantly in an airport or on a commercial flight, what the best new luxury tech of the past 10 years is, and we think 8 out of 10 of them would say “Global Entry.”

While technically, the Global Entry Trust Traveler program launched with a small pilot in three airports on June 6, 2008. But it came into full fruition at the dawn of the 2010’s. And the ease and speed with which one can now re-enter the US is truly astounding (you realize just how astounding when you’re traveling with someone who isn’t in the program and you have to wait in the regular line).

Add to this the TSA Pre-Check Program, which is a similar program for domestic travel (when you enroll in Global Entry, you’re automatically also enrolled in Pre-Check). Less time in line, fewer trips through the big radiation machine, and you get to keep your shoes and belt on? Plus more peace of mind about security? Yes, please!

3. Airbnb

Has there ever been a bigger disruptor in the travel and tourism industry than Airbnb? The scrappy idea from a pair of roommates to rent out their spare room to make some extra money is now worth $38 billion and hosts 6 million listings in more than 100,000 cities worldwide.

While economists and journalists continue to debate whether Airbnb has more of a positive or negative effect on local communities, it’s hard to imagine the sharing economy going away anytime soon. Maybe ever.

4. Ride-sharing services

If you’ve ever been stranded in the outer boroughs late at night or arrived in an unfamiliar city looking up random taxi companies, Uber and its fellow rideshare apps like Lyft and Via, have virtually eliminated the uncertainty of getting from point A to point B.

As the decade comes to a close, Uber and Lyft are giving 65% more rides than yellow cabs in New York City.

5. Voice activated personal assistants and smart speakers

The boom in smart speakers really started in 2014 with Amazon’s Echo– perhaps better known culturally as Alexa, the name given to the disembodied voice.

Along with Google’s and Apple’s versions, these speakers continue to become smaller and more affordable with increasing capabilities and inter-connectedness. Turns out that lots of people like being hands free– using their voice to set timers in the kitchen, to play music and to check the weather.

6. Instagram

At the dawn of the decade, one used to ask “Are you on Instagram?” Flash forward to the end of the decade, and the question has morphed into “How many thousands of followers do you have on Instagram?”

Everyone is on Instagram (the platform now has 1 billion active users) Some are even addicted to it. In the past decade, Instagram has birthed a new lexicon of words, slang and abbreviations that didn’t exist 10 years ago, including: influencer, OOTD, selfie, squad goals and ‘yaas.’ 

7. The Peloton Bike

Home exercise equipment was brought into the modern age in 2014 with Peloton, the maker of a high-end stationary bicycle that comes with live-streaming and on-demand classes (full disclosure: our CEO is a Peloton board member). For those who benefit from a bit of peer pressure, the concept of connected fitness offers the convenience of at-home workouts with the competition (and community) of group exercise classes.

The live instructors have become celebrities in their own right and are unique enough so that each class actually feels different from one another.

8. Consumer Drones

What was once considered military equipment has crossed over into family reunion and vacation territory. Please tell us we’re not the only ones with a tech-savvy cousin who flies his drone overhead trying to impress everyone and then never actually sends anyone the photos?

Since the launch of 2010’s Parrot AR Drone, the devices have become even more compact, easy to control and less expensive. This past June, Amazon announced that it would start using drones to ship packages under five pounds up to 15 miles away,  “in a matter of months.”

9. Tesla

The car maker has accelerated the development of luxury all-electric vehicles and self-driving vehicles more than any of the world’s automobile manufacturers.

When the Tesla Model S debuted in 2012, it hit the sweet spot- a $50,000 price range, zero to 60 in less than six seconds and its green. In California that year, it outsold Porsches and Jaguars. By 2020, Tesla expects to have full self-driving cars in which humans will not even have to even touch the steering wheel.

10. Venmo

We credit Venmo with salvaging more than a few friendships. Ever since 2010, we’ve had no problems with the check at the end of a group dinner.

The app is extraordinarily simple and allows users to send money to people instantly. The company, which was purchased by PayPal, now has 40 million users, which as a digital customer base is larger than most banks.

10 best new luxury tech innovations of the past decade

It’s hard to imagine life without some of these technological innovations in our lives. What can’t you live without? And most importantly, what do you wish you could have initially invested in?? Here’s a new decade.

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Crediting her training as a cultural anthropologist at Wellesley College, Julie has immersed herself in various industries in the last 15 years including fashion design, event planning, fitness and even investigating police misconduct. Julie lives in NYC where she loves trying every ramen and dumpling restaurant with her husband and three children. She finds joy in bold prints, biographies of fierce women, kickboxing and spending way too long finding the perfect polish color to express her mood.

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