I really liked this piece thanks. The point about tastes and how they change and are pretty hard to predict is really helpful. I tend to forget about that aspect when thinking about industry prospects. As a book lover I tend to think about prospects for books and bookshops. I see lots of bookstores closing and these days not much turnover at my local secondhand bookshop. But now I think of it, there’s lots of energy in other parts of my local book world. For instance, the thrift shops do a roaring trade and local secondhand book sales by charities are pretty huge community events so that’s something. So now I think who knows what the future will bring for book sales and who knows what new ways of producing, selling and reselling books will appear. It’s kind of exciting to think of as a book lover.
This comment was originally posted on the a16z Substack:
As someone who’s building a GPU-powered Terminal App, the return to a CLI-first experience makes me giggle so hard. The times have changed but only in our memory perhaps! What is old is now new, etc. etc. etc.
I liked this quote but wanted to adjust it a bit:
> “New tools will be created with AI that do new things.”
to:
> “New tools will be created with AI that do old things in new ways.
The gutenberg press enabled writing and publishing (and copy-pasta-ing) at a greater scale. The typewriter did the same and then computer and then the internet and now AI.
Every major leap seems to follow the same pattern:
1. Reduce the cost of reproduction
2. Expand who can produce content
3. Trigger a crisis among existing gatekeepers (church, state, publishers, media companies)
4. Restructure power — those who control information lose monopoly
These are amazing times but our fundamental needs and even workflows really haven’t changed. We are still human after all these years.
I really liked this piece thanks. The point about tastes and how they change and are pretty hard to predict is really helpful. I tend to forget about that aspect when thinking about industry prospects. As a book lover I tend to think about prospects for books and bookshops. I see lots of bookstores closing and these days not much turnover at my local secondhand bookshop. But now I think of it, there’s lots of energy in other parts of my local book world. For instance, the thrift shops do a roaring trade and local secondhand book sales by charities are pretty huge community events so that’s something. So now I think who knows what the future will bring for book sales and who knows what new ways of producing, selling and reselling books will appear. It’s kind of exciting to think of as a book lover.
Once again, your essay illuminated the possibilities in a optimistic but balanced assessment. Thanks.
This comment was originally posted on the a16z Substack:
As someone who’s building a GPU-powered Terminal App, the return to a CLI-first experience makes me giggle so hard. The times have changed but only in our memory perhaps! What is old is now new, etc. etc. etc.
I liked this quote but wanted to adjust it a bit:
> “New tools will be created with AI that do new things.”
to:
> “New tools will be created with AI that do old things in new ways.
The gutenberg press enabled writing and publishing (and copy-pasta-ing) at a greater scale. The typewriter did the same and then computer and then the internet and now AI.
Every major leap seems to follow the same pattern:
1. Reduce the cost of reproduction
2. Expand who can produce content
3. Trigger a crisis among existing gatekeepers (church, state, publishers, media companies)
4. Restructure power — those who control information lose monopoly
These are amazing times but our fundamental needs and even workflows really haven’t changed. We are still human after all these years.
—-
😬🙄🤣🥰