Unrelated, but interesting nonetheless: the current software industry has a strikingly similar feel to the early texas oil prospecting days. Independents are s

Unrelated, but interesting nonetheless: the current software industry has a strikingly similar feel to the early texas oil prospecting days. Independents are suddenly able to take a little bit of risk, take on some money (then: banks, now: angels and VCs), and work by themselves or in small teams to produce something that lots of people need (then: oil, now: good software). Some of the biggest fortunes in history were made back then (1900 - 1930s), just as some of the biggest fortunes are now being made in this industry. The digger I deep (no pun intended), the more similar these two stages of history look alike. I'm sure there are other eras that also share these common threads.