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Having twice the market would allow specialization into technology we don't have now because they are not profitable; division of labor works better the more pe

Having twice the market would allow specialization into technology we don't have now because they are not profitable; division of labor works better the more people you have. Intel would never be possible in a world with 1mm people; their fab centers are spectacularly expensive fixed costs. So no, we wouldn't need 2x the Google employees, but there would be a need for employees in a market that doesn't exist now.

ethbro 11y ago
> Intel would never be possible in a world with 1mm people; their fab centers are spectacularly expensive fixed costs. I think that's an interesting point that's the continuation of OP's line of thinking + Ford's original thinking. Facebook/etc (to return to the pure-digital companies) would not be possible in a world without X people with disposable income. It's tough to make money on people who can't afford things. How's MySpace doing vs Facebook? Which imho is a rebuttal the opinion that these kinds of "pure tech" jobs do scale -- true, but only in relation to the number of other jobs people are already earning income from. You can't squeeze blood (revenue) from an (unemployed) stone.