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The Verge’s annual summer ‘in’ and ‘out’ list

Chimera readability score 97 out of 100, Quantum Electrodynamics reading level.

In the AI slop-loaded, algorithm-powered modern reality, trends come and go — and the tech industry is no different. For the last few years, The Verge staff has compiled a selection of things that are IN for summer and OUT for summer — and each time there are some strong feelings. (Here are the last two years’ predictions.) Let’s do it again!
The Verge’s annual summer ‘in’ and ‘out’ list
What’s in, what’s out, and what’s a bit of both this summer.
The Verge’s annual summer ‘in’ and ‘out’ list
What’s in, what’s out, and what’s a bit of both this summer.
Mia Sato, senior report
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Motion sickness glasses | AI “pervert” glasses |
| Fiber | Protein |
| Bootleg sports merch | Official tech company merch |
| Floating in water | Touching grass |
Meredith Haggerty, editor
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| The great New York renaissance | The Great American State Fair |
| The Knicks garbage can | Taylor Swift’s MSG wedding |
| The Invite | Believing Olivia Wilde is a bad director |
| Seeing through your own human eyes | The Kylie Jenner Meta glasses |
Hayden Field, senior AI reporter
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| The NYC ferry | The NYC subway (sorry it’s too hot rn) |
| Using AI to draft letters to your landlord | Using AI to draft breakup texts, or anything else personal |
| Letterboxd | Threads |
| Absolutely unhinged design ideas that AI could never come up with | Millennial minimalism |
Victoria Song, senior dystopia reviewer
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Flintstones vitamins | Gray market peptides |
| Drugstore moisturizer | Looksmaxxing |
| The FDA approving a new sunscreen filter | Whatever it is RFK Jr. is doing |
| Writing in an analog journal | AI wearables that record everything you do |
| Accepting we will all die | Whatever it is Bryan Johnson is doing |
TC Sottek, senior editor
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| EverQuest (2026) | EverQuest (1999) |
| Entire bootleg movies on TikTok | 20-part “story” edits on TikTok |
| Boston as the most Scottish city in the US | Boston as the most Irish city in the US |
Kevin McShane, editorial director audio/video
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| A single plain text file | Vibecoding your own to-do app |
| Silo season three | Ted Lasso season four |
| Vertical sitcoms | Vertical dramas |
Kevin Nguyen, deputy editor
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Any movie theater that does not serve food to your seat | Alamo Drafthouse |
| Proton Mail | Gmail |
| Buying refurbished devices | Buying new devices |
Marina Galperina, senior tech editor
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Leaks | Press releases |
| Practical effects | Generative AI in movies |
| Making computers | Buying computers |
| Webrings | X, the everything app |
| Letting your phone battery die | Doomscrolling |
Gaby Del Valle, policy reporter
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Being a bandwagon sports fan | Rivalries – lifelong, heated, etc |
| Gelato | Frozen yogurt |
| Dua Lipa’s joie de vivre | Kylie Jenner’s whole deal |
| Mineral sunscreen | Beef tallow “sunscreen” |
Antonio DiBenedetto, reviewer
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Friendslop games | Live-service games |
| Expensive PC gaming | Expensive console gaming |
| xboX | XBOX |
Liz Lopatto, senior internet typist
IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| Unconstitutional Iran war | Peace |
| The shortest inseam you can find and/or make | Pants |
| Ceasefire | Unconstitutional Iran war |
| World Cup | Owala tumblers and other adult sippy cups |
| Unconstitutional Iran war | Ceasefire |
| Major League Cricket (Go Unicorns!) | Major League Baseball |
| Ceasefire | Unconstitutional Iran war |
| McCartney II | Taylor Swift |
| Unconstitutional Iran war | Ceasefire |
| Excommunication | JD Vance |
| Ceasefire | Unconstitutional Iran war |
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Sentinel — Human

Confidence

This text appears to be a collection of editorial predictions from a journalistic staff, characterized by distinct voices and fragmented structure, indicating a high probability of human authorship.

Signals Detected
low severity: High sentence length variance and conversational rhythm; consistent with human editorial voice rather than AI uniformity.
low severity: Highly fragmented structure (lists of contrasting trends) that lacks the seamless, passionless flow typical of pure LLM output.
low severity: The use of multiple distinct voices and specific, non-generalizable cultural references suggests a human editorial team structure.
low severity: The content relies heavily on subjective trend prediction (e.g., 'Touching grass', 'Bootleg sports merch') rather than verifiable facts, which mitigates concerns about factual fabrication.
Human Indicators
The text contains distinct sections attributed to named authors (Mia Sato, Meredith Haggerty, Hayden Field, etc.) and editors, indicating a collaborative, journalistic source structure.
The highly specific and often ironic juxtapositions between trends suggest an idiosyncratic human perspective rather than generalized algorithmic synthesis.