Sounds like he's still whining about not having product that sells. Nor listening to his people that tell him how to sell stuff in the enviroment specific of the Internet.

I think Seaquest DSV had a race of nuke-resistant soldier-slaves. The idea had appeal to TV writers back in the day. IIRC that TV show was around just about the time Chernobyl went poof!

I sort of vote for electricity distribution as changing the habits of humans the most. Once we broke the difficulty to do stuff after the sun set, all heck broke loose. (if we just could have remained "green" from the start...) I don't know that the Internet is up that high on my list of "greatest inventions." Sure it's nifty, but people like my mom want a fridge, running water, toilets, TV and air conditioning over computers and the ability to check news and weather radar instantly. After all there's radio and newspapers if you need news and the post office if you need to reach someone... She wouldn't cry about her computer not working, it's only for games and printing the letters going into the mail box after all (and she sounds a lot like this Sony guy about how useless the Internet is. She's never received an email in her whole life.) But dang, the moaning you hear if the AC is on the blink or, if the price of a newspaper goes up again.

I guess I'm a bit scared that we're going to come to our senses and realize the energy expense of the Internet and ATMs and cell phones and the like is what is really causing all our climate trouble. Is the Internet a pipe-dream like my mother thinks it is? I know I've read articles where people figured the energy to run data center computers and support stuff is awful in terms of watts and waste heat. But people also point to savings in not having as many emissions by the different things the Internet has streamlined the delivery of. Is it a net saving or expense? Is there a movement out there to downsize the Internet to save the planet? I think there's now a generation of people that can't cope without the Internet the way I freak out when the electricity goes out. What will we do then?

A panel with print and film whining about how their respective technologies are being phased out. I'm sure it was a little pity party. It's never good to whine and cry about that. Get up and invent something that works in the new situation. That's what younger "comic strip" artists did when they couldn't make a break into getting their strips into newspapers. They're now web comics creators and they network with each other on the best business models that are working out for them. I follow a few that are struggling with the methods of payment for their works and even they wrestle with the concept of getting their viewers to pay for their work, but at least they embraced the change in technology their art instructors scoffed at just a few years ago.

I think it's a new euphemism for an executive worrying about his business in a economy not seen for sixty years. I'm sure if Gates was examined he'd be in the same situation.

Hey, I call MacGuyver at that point!