I missed a big change in my list which is the Internet. We were using the internet in 1992. I remember FTP'ing source code from machines in Finland from here i

I missed a big change in my list which is the Internet. We were using the internet in 1992. I remember FTP'ing source code from machines in Finland from here in Silicon Valley. I knew it was going to change the world. Ubiquitous networking means that new developments are now instantly available instead of having to wait for the publishing cycle. People can share instantly. Open source changed everything. In 1992 you'd need to get your accounting dept to cut a PO and then talk to a sales person to get new software. Most software being freely available today has been like rocket fuel for the industry. If you'd told me in 1992 that in 30 years most software would be distributed open source, and that the industry as a whole is making much more money, I'd have said you were crazy. That all said, this particular conversation would have been occurring over Usenet in 1992 using almost exactly the same format.