Leading up to the New Year's, I was watching the CNN history documentary on Netflix. It was the one executive produced by Tom Hanks, and covers the 70s, 80s, 90

Leading up to the New Year's, I was watching the CNN history documentary on Netflix. It was the one executive produced by Tom Hanks, and covers the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. I went backwards and have just finished the 80s. I know the history of computing technology pretty well... but it was striking to see it laid out like that, in the context of changes with art, culture, domestic and international politics. Retrospecting on that, in the heyday when Moore's Law was so visible, before the PC revolution gave birth to the Internet revolution, new computing devices were changing so fast. You could go into a store a month later and see a lot of things that are new. I remember the Columbus OH Microcenter. There was a tiny used computer store nearby. Both were packed. That business worked because there was so much turnover. You don't really see that nowadays. The most exciting thing that come out tbese days is the Threadripper, but for most consumers, it isn't necessary anymore. Most of the rapid changes are taking place where people can't really see it anymore (unless you are an insider) -- in the cloud, with AI. Even though changes are still happening rapidly, I think the _visible_ changes have petered out for the consumer. What I am saying is that, even if Fry's were able to compete on price with internet retailers, something more fundamental has shifted. Now maybe I am just saying this from the perspective of the US. I hear that in China, the development and competitiveness of smartphones is a lot greater there than in the US. Apple has a difficult time competing in China because there are many stylish, hot smartphones within that domestic market. If so, then perhaps it isn't that changes are no longer being visible ... but that the US is no longer the focal point of consumer product innovation that it one was.