AI, Crypto, and [??????]!
It's 1931, and switchboard operators are riding high.
They glance over at the telegraph operators with disdain.
“Ha!” they scoff.
“Look at those Morse code dinosaurs, hammering away like it's the Stone Age.”
They were sure of one thing: the Morse code clingers’ days were numbered.
But fate has a way of flipping the script.
See, some guy named Almon Brown Strowger - a former undertaker, no less - is tinkering away in his workshop.
There, he cooks up something called an “automatic telephone exchange”.
It’s bold. It’s crazy. It works.
Soon, Strowger's invention is spreading fast. "Number, please?" is replaced by the cold, efficient click of automation.
Cherry on top?
By the 1930s, those once-cocky switchboard operators are frantically leafing through want ads…
And some crusty old telegraph operator in the middle of nowhere is still gainfully employed.
“Don’t Learn to Code”
I was reminded of this story when I saw this chart:
Recall, it wasn’t that long ago when software developers were urging truckers and miners to “learn to code”.
Again, the future doesn’t always go as planned.
Now, it’s the coders - not the truckers - that are starting to sweat.
Especially if they listen to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang:
"It is our job to create computing technology such that nobody has to program," Huang declared.
Huang envisions a future where the programming language is human, not code, with AI enabling everyday users to interact with computers more naturally.
He suggests that we are closing the "technology divide," making it easier for anyone—regardless of technical background—to work with AI.
As Huang puts it, “Everybody in the world is now a programmer”.
Whether you're a healthcare worker, a farmer, or a manufacturing specialist, AI tools can amplify your work without requiring coding expertise.
Huang's statement reflects a fundamental shift in the tech industry.
And it’s going to create some intense mash-ups. (More on that tomorrow.)
BUT…
The biggest opportunity at the moment is one mash-up we’ve been rapping about for a while.
Three words, two symbols.
AI + crypto = BOOM.
