(Wrote this in 2021 on Twitter and I still think it is true.)
Sometimes I just think that computers, programming and digital technologies in general have now ended the explosive growth phase and that this is ok.
We might just be past the initial Cambrian explosion of applications and now in a slower improvement/distribution phase.
We have seen three huge waves of growth: democratisation of computers, internet and then mobile phones, but now, I have no digital tech breakthrough in sight that, in my opinion, could fuel another such huge growth cycle.
Nope, not metaverse (LOL), not AI, not blockchain. I do believe in the ability of machine learning to increase a lot efficiency in some type of work, but that’s about it.
And that’s ok to me. Computers and digital tech will have been the opportunity of my career.
I now believe more in biotech and energy (so much to do there) as the tech fields able to provide growth opportunities.
But don’t misunderstand me: I also think there is still a ton of important work to be done with computers, just not work that will get worldwide adoption very quickly, like computers, internet and mobile did.
Picture: Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com). Opabinia, a species that has been regarded as strong evidence of the “cambrian explosion”.
