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Sigh, he almost has the answer, but he is too limited by his set political believes to actually see it. Lack of technology is not the problem, the problem is l
by hristov 16y ago
Sigh, he almost has the answer, but he is too limited by his set political believes to actually see it.
Lack of technology is not the problem, the problem is lack of demand, and there is lack of demand because most people are poor. That's pretty much it. Once there is demand the technology will catch up pretty quickly.
For example, when after WWII middle class americans ended up with money (either from their pay as soldiers, or due to the higher salaries during the war time labor shortages), the US economy and technology grew very quickly to acomodate every single desire they might have, cars, houses, highways, boats, every consumer product you may think of, etc. were built in enormous quantities.
But now the middle class is relatively poor and at their best hope is to stay at the same level. So their spending decreases or stays the same. And the economy suffers.
Why aren't there household robots? Because people are too poor. The middle class american is too poor to afford a complex piece of robotics, and also there is a bunch of even poorer people that will do your housework for cheap. So why would anybody invest in a complex expensive Jetson's like household robot?
Take Hacker News for example, full of innovative people but most of them are working hard trying to figure out how to make money from a free product. Why? Because the average American does not have much money to spend.
So IMO, Thiel is in denial when he blames lack of technological know-how and advances for the economic woes.
- shin_lao 16y ago>But now the middle class is relatively poor Relatively poor? Relative to what? To their parents who lived a golden age? There are so many reasons why our countries aren't doing as great as they can and the wealth of middle classes isn't a cause but a consequence. As an entrepreneur I observe that companies that innovate a lot do much better than those who don't.
- callmeed 16y agoFirst of all, there are robots that will vacuum/scrub your floors, clean your pool, and clear you gutter (http://store.irobot.com http://store.irobot.com). It's the not the Jetsons, but when I think about how complex other household chores can be (from an AI perspective), Thiel's theory makes more sense than yours. Are there even commercial/industrial robots advanced enough to collect, sort, wash, dry, fold and put away my family's laundry? You say the middle class is relatively poor–relative to what? I didn't know there was huge demand for self-driving cars–and it's cheaper to ride the bus–but Google is working on the technology.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago...the US economy and technology grew very quickly to acomodate every single desire they might have, cars, houses, highways, boats, every consumer product you may think of, etc. were built in enormous quantities. But now the middle class is relatively poor and at their best hope is to stay at the same level. Please name a single consumer good or service which the Americans had more of after WWII than they do now. Products made obsolete by new technology don't count.