>Rewind to the dot-com times, and I believe you'd find people saying the exact same things. Charles Stross basically wrote Accelerando by writing down the stuf

>Rewind to the dot-com times, and I believe you'd find people saying the exact same things. Charles Stross basically wrote Accelerando by writing down the stuff people were gossiping and fantasizing about building in Silicon Valley circa the first Dot-Com Bubble, IIRC. Basically none of it actually happened, and almost all companies at that time were basically focused on the same "Stuff my mom used to do for me -- now through a website!" premise. Same as today, mostly. Automated vehicles, robotics, smart appliances, VR, and basically every major technological innovation are capital intensive: five guys in a rented room in a coworking space are not enough. You need a real R&D division.