Steve Jobs

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Really interesting thought by Pussycat Catnap, commenting

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What is actually more interesting is how LITTLE has changed since 2006. I think we're hitting a point where even as the technology changes speed up - we've managed to consume it into our cultures in a manner now that keeps it from effecting real change at a pace faster than we have evolved to be able to handle. We have adapted to its pace, by slowing its impact. 2026... the only thing different will probably be another half hour added onto my commute in traffic.

That first part seems exactly right. 2006, we had smartphones and spent a lot of time on social media (maybe more MySpace than Facebook, but still), and we're still doing that. What fundamentally new, categorical technology shift has reached a mass market level since then?

Off the top of my head, I'd say that consumer-ready electric cars have crossed that point, where they've changed the direction of the car industry (and global policy around it) as a well. But other innovations? We already had self-driving cars back in 2006, they've just gotten better -- same thing with drones, same thing with "Internet of Things" devices, same with VR headsets, etc. etc. By contrast, thinking back to 1996, print newspapers were still a mass market industry, as were VHS cassettes, DVDs, and CDs -- all almost entirely gone now. So it seems like technology adoption has slowed since then, so maybe Ms. Catnap is right.

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