I don't disagree. But I think (a) Important stepwise changes in a domain are actually rarer than we think. Transformers & deep learning being one good example.

I don't disagree. But I think (a) Important stepwise changes in a domain are actually rarer than we think. Transformers & deep learning being one good example. (b) Focusing on the background information prepares you for that stepwise change, and recognize the stepwise change when it happens Instead of trying to suss out from the tech literatti every new thing and chase that, I'd rather spend my time on "old things" and be better prepared for the right stepwise changes. There's a lot of 'revolutionary' and 'big ideas' that in reality are marketing and/or repackaging old ideas.