Everything you read about tech these days is more or less a screed on the evils of the technology community. The smugly ignorant journalists of the tech press, most of whom wouldn’t know code from a cod, float every conceivable bit of nonsense and conspiracy theory all with the message that tech is evil and something should be done about it. The pandering ignoramuses in Congress are only too happy to comply.
It was a pleasure and relief, therefore, to read Marc Andreessen’s post Technology Saves the World. The TL;DR is the technology saved us from what—only a few years ago—would have been a five year wait for a COVID-19 vaccine and a probable reprise of the great depression.
While the astounding and speedy success of the vaccine program is probably technology’s greatest triumph, there were plenty of others. Among knowledge workers there was virtually no down time. That, of course, was made possible by the work-from-home technology that while nascent was already underway. Andreessen says that he talked to hundreds of CEOs and they were uniformly surprised at how well remote work worked from the very beginning.
Even nominally customer-facing workers were able to pivot to online ordering and delivery. Hence we could order groceries, meals, or whatever else we needed and have it delivered to our door. This worked remarkably well even though many small businesses bore the brunt of the lockdown.
The press, of course, responded to this by complaining that tech companies such as Amazon and Apple were making huge amounts of money. I remember in the middle of the crisis the Wall Street Journal was complaining about Amazon and some one asked who you’d rather have in the midst of COVID-19: the Wall Street Journal or Amazon. The question answers itself.
If, like me, you’re weary of the negative drumbeat from the tech press, take a look at Andreessen’s post. It will be a welcome respite.