IoT and VR are the obvious technologies that have been introduced after smart phones. They both have significant obstacles in addition to the significant poten

IoT and VR are the obvious technologies that have been introduced after smart phones. They both have significant obstacles in addition to the significant potential. I won't pretend to know how things will pan out -- I agree with the idea that inventing the future is easier than predicting it. I'd like to hear some contrarian thinking against IoT and VR. And maybe a list of "next big things" that weren't. Clean tech might be one of them. I recall some pre-www hype by Bill Gates about the "CD-ROM business", which seems to have been less of a business than a cheap distribution medium. Flip cameras were a blip. This definitely applies: http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html "Live in the future and build what seems interesting" People trying to jump on trends are usually too late, because 1) they pick the wrong trend due to lack of fundamental understanding, and 2) It takes years to develop true expertise. The people really profiting from deep learning now were toiling in obscurity 10 years ago. And plenty of people picked a line of AI research 10 years ago that has already fallen out of favor. There's no free lunch: risk and reward go hand in hand.