I agree with pretty much everything you said, except the part about the "VC-fueled startups". Google and fb were once startups, they were just earlier and Googl

I agree with pretty much everything you said, except the part about the "VC-fueled startups". Google and fb were once startups, they were just earlier and Google in particular was smart enough to see the future. As part of a multi-faceted effort (including for instance, Chrome and gmail), they saw the need to head off the Web 3.0 standards, delivering us instead the web we have today. I wish I could have seen things as clearly then. In the end though I'm not sure it ever would have been any different. People want it "now" and they want it "convenient".