As a sort of related piece, I recently read the book Rising Sun by Michael Crichton (1993). In the book he describes a future where the Japanese effectively bec

As a sort of related piece, I recently read the book Rising Sun by Michael Crichton (1993). In the book he describes a future where the Japanese effectively become global hegemon, dividing American industry into pieces that are easily bought by Japanese conglomerates, all of whom are years ahead of the Western world in regards to technology. It's a fun piece of media that projects a future that didn't happen, and even more interestingly, was really the opposite of what happened. The book played on fears of American inferiority to the rise of eastern nations, and is a great reminder that no matter what we may think of as true now may not be the case in the future. Hearing about how far Japan has fallen behind in the technology race really brings to mind the fact that at one point, everyone was afraid that Japan would take over the world with its high tech industries. Worth a read just for how wrong Crichton really got it.