[xyandnoz]

I mostly agree with Amy's take. And since when did "changing" imply "for the better"? It seems far too many people in our tech world have confused "affecting" with "improving". Yet when I glance around at what we have created -- me absolutely included -- for every world-changing improvement, I see far more products, services, apps with a model that puts the start-up's interests (or their investors, etc.) in direct conflict with "the World's" interests. Yeah, I am no longer in the "changing the world" camp, unless "change" means a NET improvement. The current example that strikes me the most is the gamification platform vendors that feature success stories including weight loss and health compliance, alongside success case-studies of the same platform used to increase sales of high-fructose corn syrup drinks and beer. And they celebrate the fact that they are not just helping company A take market share from company B, but that through software/data-enabled behavior manipulation techniques, they increased the "units" a given customer would buy. Huge win for companies. World-changing?

[ahoyhere]

Excellent point. The word "change" is totally amoral!

Also, it doesn't really express degree, either. Either everything changes the world, or nothing does.