lol. Certainly more than a hint of truth to it. That said, there are layers to the onion as well. For example, the challenge of creating or improving a network is objectively harder in the modern age where you have to create a connection to move an amount of data every second between two computers that is likely larger than the entire amount of computer data on earth in the early days of networking, and you must attempt to do it at or exceeding the speed of light, and potentially with no hard connections, and it probably needs encryptions and an ever evolving host of security protocols while still remaining extremely easy to connect to.
Simply put the amount of engineering and brain power to get from the ground to flying a few feet above it, or from a few feet above it to thousands of feet above, don’t compare to what is needed to fly out of the atmosphere and around space. The challenges tend to get more and more complex as technology evolves. The “future” of computing is relying…
.. on is discovering and harnessing some of the most fundamental concepts of the known universe to be viable. We reached a point where machines could assemble compact circuits that were so precise that even though we could make them smaller, the traces were so close together that the fundamental laws of physics as we knew them prevented us from going smaller because the electrons would interfere. We then found ways around that and we even reached a point where we make circuits so small that they require ultra high vacuum and we have to deposit fine particles that can barely be seen via optical microscope into a circuit thinner than a human hair and use light instead physical machines to guide its construction. And now we are knocking on the door of using science that not even the minds working on it have a good grasp of, to try and store data using the fabric of space time as a medium.
So the challenges are always tough but they get objectively tougher. A modest goal like “I want my personal electronics to use the same charger” isn’t even that modest. Creating a singular device that can charge an IPhone, and Android Phone, AND your Tesla…? Let alone one that could do so and not be huge and expensive? Wireless charging is making that more and more possible in theory- but it is far from so simple even just to make a charger for the teslas alone. And let us not forget that many electronics have firmware or software that requires some manner of authentication to allow charging- meaning that anyone seeking to unify charging needs to navigate a legal and business jungle to be able to support those standards, and that applies more places than charging batteries.
Of course innovation isn’t dead, and as I said at the top, this is humorous and true. Many modern tech giants got wealthy not through any real or substantial technical in innovation or even arguably by providing a needed or beneficial product. A link between many modern tach giants is an ability to use or develop technology to appease. Digital space gives a canvas for imagination, its non physical constraints make it possible for people good at marketing and social maneuvering to put what is in their heads into a form that others can interface it. So these innovations are often less technical marvels and more based on existing technologies leveraged in ways that are innovative socially or in marketing.
Because… bill gates didn’t get so rich because the technology for windows was so sophisticated or innovative. He made a program that allowed people who couldn’t use basic commands to interact with computers, and he marketed it early and well so that it became ubiquitous.
MZ made a social media site which had a few features but mainly relied on differences in UI/UX to become a giant. Amazon got rich off of… storing data. They buy hardware made by others and charge money to store large amounts of data. They became a household name by offering… online shopping. A UI to allow people interface access to what previously wasn't as accesible. Musk took an old idea and literally someone else’s work and said instead of trying to make an economy car, he’d build a sports car to get buzz. A strategy he’s kept with the Cyber Tuck and other projects- not to make the best car…
The first Teslas were terrible cars by modern quality standards. They are lotus chassis shipped from lotus to Tesla. The paint was usually bad and needed redone. There was a massive problem with all the seals leaking and the interiors getting wet in the rain. The Model S consistently tops lists of cars that are poor used investments and there are countless issues with their construction etc. in terms of QC and overall build. Tesla came strong and early and their technology, especially in batteries, made them more capable EV’s than anyone had- in a market where only a small handful of EV’s existed in the world. But Musk didn’t have some grand idea and his company didn’t even actually do much to advance the technology behind the EV. They worked out teething issues and found the marketing strategy and the market to successfully sell EV’s in America.
That is largely the innovation of the brand. Not taking many off the shelf electronics components and packaging them together in novel ways, but in marketing a product and a brand and a lifestyle. In becoming the brand most people associate with electric vehicles, and becoming the company that people tend to look to as the standard to judge other EV against. In becoming a status symbol and a statement. So that is sadly the way modern tech seems to have gone for now. It is just worth noting that it isn’t impossible, but it much more difficult for hobbyists and such to come up with let alone implement and have success with home brewed advancements in tech because the tech is growing so sophisticated or so large in scale that even the tools to play around with it aren’t feasible for most home settings.
In the early days of home computing a computer might cost a quarter or half a years wage for many, but it was attainable enough that people could own them or get their hands on them. Try getting some time to “play around with” a half billion dollar machine used in modern computer sciences. Many universities don’t have physical access to high end tools at the cutting edge of technology. The market is also ever more saturated with companies and individuals to where getting an idea off the ground has never been so easy, but it’s more difficult in many ways today.
Simply put the amount of engineering and brain power to get from the ground to flying a few feet above it, or from a few feet above it to thousands of feet above, don’t compare to what is needed to fly out of the atmosphere and around space. The challenges tend to get more and more complex as technology evolves. The “future” of computing is relying…
MZ made a social media site which had a few features but mainly relied on differences in UI/UX to become a giant. Amazon got rich off of… storing data. They buy hardware made by others and charge money to store large amounts of data. They became a household name by offering… online shopping. A UI to allow people interface access to what previously wasn't as accesible. Musk took an old idea and literally someone else’s work and said instead of trying to make an economy car, he’d build a sports car to get buzz. A strategy he’s kept with the Cyber Tuck and other projects- not to make the best car…