Every new industry has exuberance in advance of reality. The techies get carried away. There is a period of despair. Then the pendulum swings the other way, and people see the long term potential. It's like when the Internet bubble crashed.
The computer environment is radically different today. In the 1980s, it was like the Wild West, with a lot of open territory. Now, the cowboys have moved out and the farmers have moved in.
Those that believe this is merely a downturn are mad. Our industry is going to mature and as something matures, the rate of innovation does slow.
Cloud represents the maturation of the IT industry.
Every industry, as it comes to a certain level of maturity, there is consolidation. In that consolidation, some fall, but the men will always be there. It is the boys that get sloughed, I would say.
I think the dot-com boom and bust represented the end of the beginning. The industry is more mature today.
There are moments when television systems are young and haven't formed properly, and there's room for lots of original stuff. Then things become more and more top-heavy with executives who are trying to guarantee the success of things.
There's nothing more frustrating than seeing cynics sit there and say, 'Well, nobody can make any more money because Microsoft and Intel own everything.' Is the software industry mature, or is it embryonic? I would say it's embryonic. There will be a hundred more Microsofts, not just one.
