"optimal" results are a fallacious indicator: optimal for now can mean a disaster in the near future, think about the actual just-in-time industry crisis for in

"optimal" results are a fallacious indicator: optimal for now can mean a disaster in the near future, think about the actual just-in-time industry crisis for instance. I do not say that's was happen since I do not really know nor NLS (of course I've seen the Mother of all the demos, but not much more especially in technical terms) nor Smalltalk workstations (I've dig a bit more there, emulation included, but lacking comparison with NLS...) however is a generally valid principles: in nature it does not win the better but the more adaptive. In humans terms some very good stuff might simply fade into oblivion because they are too ahead of their time for most people or are against someone's interests. To spot a more modern example maybe a bit more easy to know by most HN-ers just see Java history, it's original idea and the subsequent practical fail due to the fact nobody really care the original idea adopting instead just the boilerplate. Plan 9 was another example. IMVHO the real points was: - pioneers have seen desktop computers, not services, with the human at the center, not a vendor or a service, more specifically connected people with powerful tool some in politics is named social tissue needed for democracy, something essentially all élites from all countries fear most; - pioneers have cared about their idea, vision, not much their present time short terms needs, as a result most people have no idea about the future they envisage and have tried to meld what they are told about the future to their present created ridiculous stuff and encouraging some to go that way (see General Magik virtual office for instance); - pioneers have not cared at all about scaling their gear, witch means how to make them en masse, creating a supply chain, ... as a result profiting from them was essentially an artisanal game no one can really sustain and at government level no one is much interested either. Another today examples: we have seen in the recent 50+ years past various efforts to make small, cheap VTOL aircrafts, i.e. "flying cars". Now we see even financial institutions embracing them in their sauce, well so far such experiments have proven feasible and to a certain extent VERY interested for all. So far most think they are impossible. Useless. Unsafe. .... As a result the general reactionary behaviors of essentially any large community from élites (who feel well in general and fear loosing their status if something change) to generic human beings (who generally think the change is bad, not needed, they simply fear it if is a real change) annihilate or at least postpone in a very far future any real revolution. Culture is typically the mean to make things happen but so far we seems to be unable (beside the fact that most do NOT want that happen) to really spread a substantial culture though the masses. We know how to do that in small cohort but not in larger ones. We still miss a way to connect those small cohort to the humanity enough to make the magic happen...