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Such is life. Tech boomed because: the economy was "good" (people could afford to go after creative and speculative pursuits) and there was technology that had

Such is life. Tech boomed because: the economy was "good" (people could afford to go after creative and speculative pursuits) and there was technology that hadn't been utilized in creative ways yet (computers, phones, the internet, GPUs, etc.). This allowed "hackers"/"geeks"/"creatives"/"entrepreneurs" to work on stuff that most likely wouldn't make any money, but would be more interesting and fulfilling than doing a job or going after a career. Then once the money started coming in, and others started hitting home-runs, the "sociopaths"/"prestige hounds"/"MBAs"/"money lovers" came in to formalize and formulize, so the gravy train would be more sustainable and predictable -- and that they could get theirs. Now we're here. Something cool is no longer cool. In another vein, what is there left to do? The economy needs to improve and there needs to be new -- actually ground-breaking and revolutionary -- technology brought to the world, so others may use it in novel and creative ways. Then we repeat the cycle. LLMs seem to be the only contender for "ground-breaking" tech right now. Otherwise, I can't think of anything else.

fragmede 3y ago
solar power, wind power, grid-scale battery storage, heat pumps, ev cars, ev aircraft, mRNA vaccines, cures for very specific kinds of cancer, spaceX... maybe it's just me, but there's a ton of intesting tech happening outside of computers
- financltravsty 3y ago
  mRNA vaccines is the only one that really "pops" for me. The rest are just iterations on what we've already had, but more efficient/less costly/etc. Nothing really revolutionary, only the same old but better. In that vein, CRISPR, and how it enables individuals to pursue genetic modification and xenobiology/botany, is one that's being utilized right now to make a lot of very cool stuff (one that comes to mind is the S. Mutans strain that doesn't produce lactic acid). But it's still a very involved and very chaotic process that doesn't allow innovations to rocket off.
  - Aeolun 3y ago
    Most things are iterations on what you already had. Transistors were just an iteration on tubes, but give it 50 years and… I think the most world changing tech of the last 20 years is the smartphone.
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      I think of the smartphone as a culmination of many technologies. Efficient broadband wireless radio, efficient and powerful microchips, GPS systems, camera technology, display technology, battery technology, etc, and of course the software to make it all work. All of those come together to make a powerful, easy to use, portable computer that enables its user to do so many things in so many places there were not possible before.
cipheredStones 3y ago
I would argue that tech boomed because the (broader) economy was bad. The Fed interest rate was ~0% from 2009 through 2016, due to the long shadow of the Great Recession, and then again from March 2020 to early 2022. That made investors look for unlikely bets on long time horizons, which fueled VCs and big tech, which created the industry we know today.

fragmede 3y ago

solar power, wind power, grid-scale battery storage, heat pumps, ev cars, ev aircraft, mRNA vaccines, cures for very specific kinds of cancer, spaceX... maybe it's just me, but there's a ton of intesting tech happening outside of computers

financltravsty 3y ago
mRNA vaccines is the only one that really "pops" for me. The rest are just iterations on what we've already had, but more efficient/less costly/etc. Nothing really revolutionary, only the same old but better. In that vein, CRISPR, and how it enables individuals to pursue genetic modification and xenobiology/botany, is one that's being utilized right now to make a lot of very cool stuff (one that comes to mind is the S. Mutans strain that doesn't produce lactic acid). But it's still a very involved and very chaotic process that doesn't allow innovations to rocket off.
- Aeolun 3y ago
  Most things are iterations on what you already had. Transistors were just an iteration on tubes, but give it 50 years and… I think the most world changing tech of the last 20 years is the smartphone.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    I think of the smartphone as a culmination of many technologies. Efficient broadband wireless radio, efficient and powerful microchips, GPS systems, camera technology, display technology, battery technology, etc, and of course the software to make it all work. All of those come together to make a powerful, easy to use, portable computer that enables its user to do so many things in so many places there were not possible before.

cipheredStones 3y ago

I would argue that tech boomed because the (broader) economy was bad. The Fed interest rate was ~0% from 2009 through 2016, due to the long shadow of the Great Recession, and then again from March 2020 to early 2022. That made investors look for unlikely bets on long time horizons, which fueled VCs and big tech, which created the industry we know today.