[besquared]

Specialized hardware was always kind of a stopgap. Even now you can see networking companies facing the double threat of virtualized networking in software. Software is eating the world as Andreessen famously stated.

As to the life span of tech companies I think it will only get shorter. One thing I find interesting is that it's difficult for humans (including myself) to really internalize the overall effects of compounding interest. I read a comment the other day in which the author was joking about how they can't wait until 2023 when they get to look back and feel how they do now looking back at 2003. It doesn't always seem that the speed at which things are happening is increasing dramatically even if that's the case. The progress between 2003 until now will be completely overwhelmed just a few years from today.

[gtirloni]

We might not be enjoying that much growth in the next century (or we might, who knows).

http://blog.ted.com/2013/04/23/the-future-of-work-and-innova...