It feels like the endless potential has been wasted. All of the amazing things we could have done with computers and we used them for like-buttons and lolcats. Wow great, another app to tell people who don't care where I am and what I'm doing at this very moment. I'll try to contain my excitement.
Maybe its just classic burnout or a more troubling creeping pessimism that affects more than just me.
What gives me hope is that these things seem to happen in fits and spurts and the biggest jumps seem to start in the down times and recessions. When they arrive they are fast and unexpected and usually made from bits of the ordinary that had seemed boring and innocuous until put together just right.
It seems like we're about due. I don't know if it will come from open source hardware, desktop manufacturing, DIY biohacking or something I haven't even considered, but I expect it, and soon.