15 Gadgets And Online Services That Didn't Exist, When Game Of Thrones Began In April 2011

After what felt like forever, the finale of Game of Thrones is finally here. The epic fantasy television series is heading to a gripping climax in Westeros and beyond, for sure.

The first episode of 'Game of Thrones' season 8 debuted today, airing in India the same time as the US. Many of you probably woke up early to catch it, or will watch it later.

But it might surprise you how much has changed since the popular show first aired on TV, all those years ago in 2011.

Bloomberg's Jon Erlichman posted on Twitter earlier today, mentioning all the tech services that have boomed and grown since GoT's first debut in April 2011.

1. Snapchat

Snapchat, created by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown, only launched in September of 2011 as Snapchat Inc, about five months after Game of Thrones premiered on HBO in April 2011.

2. Lyft

Ride-sharing app Lfyt came around about a year later in June 2012, just after Game Of Thrones season two.

3. Slack

Workplace collaboration app Slack was launched in August 2013, two months after GoT's season 3 ended.

4. Siri

Though it seems like it's been around for decades, Siri is actually younger than Game of Thrones. The beta version of the digital assistant launched with the iPhone 4S in October 2011.

5. Twitch

The video game streaming platform was first spun off from a larger streaming site in June 2011, just as GoT Season 1 was concluding.

7. Tinder

By the time dating/hookup app Tinder came around in September 2012, the "Winter is Coming" meme had already gotten old.

8. Fortnite

The popular battle royale game is one of the youngest on this list, having debuted only years later in July 2017.

9. Medium

The online publishing platform, developed by Evan Williams, launched in August 2012, just a few months after we saw the mother of dragons rise from the ashes of her husband's pyre.

10. Apple Watch

Apple's first wearable device only debuted in April 2015, just in time for people to receive notifications about GoT's season 5.

11. Apple Maps

Apple first replaced Google maps on iOS with its own service in September 2012. It's debatable though whether the service has actually improved at all since then.

12. Amazon Alexa

It was only in November 2014 that Amazon also got into the digital assistant game like Google and Apple, launching Alexa as part of the Amazon Echo, just a few months after we saw Tyrion put a crossbow bolt into his father's belly.

13. FB Messenger

Even though Facebook was already around at the time to give people GoT spoilers, it wasn't until after season 1 that the Messenger service launched.

14. Apple Music

Apple's dedicated music streaming service only launched in June 2015. But in the almost four years since, it's gained 56 million subscribers around the world.

15. CandyCrush

Candy Crush wasn't launched until 2012, and that too just for Facebook. It only later released versions for iOS and Android, which was when its popularity skyrocketed.