When steam engines came along, an awful lot of people argued that being able to pump water from mines faster, while inarguably useful, would not have any broad

When steam engines came along, an awful lot of people argued that being able to pump water from mines faster, while inarguably useful, would not have any broad economical impact. Only madmen saw the Newcomen engine and thought “ah, railways!”. Those madmen became extraordinarily wealthy. Vast categories of work were eliminated, others were created. I think this situation is very similar in terms of the underestimation of scope of application, however differs in the availability of new job categories - but then that may be me underestimating new categories which are as yet as unforeseen as stokers and train conductors once were.