| | | Note that just a few weeks ago QCOM was $186 with Aztec valued at $1800 so the reliable old ratio of 1:10 is in fact near enough for government work still correct. Of course Qualcomm is just another company all of which go to zero, sooner or later, though for the most part they repay the investors a couple of times or even quite a lot, as QCOM did for me, and to a huge extent, while gold just stupidly sat there doing nothing, and Qualcomm created the most valuable thing to have ever existed x orders of magnitude, that is, mobile Cyberspace. Count the umpty$trillions just in current market capitalisation of mobile Cyberspace companies, then add the orders of magnitude more $trillions in consumer surplus which is value albeit not taxed as profits or income.
Just downloading traffic, maps, and routes when traveling is worth $thousands per active traveller. Wikipedia available with a quick request to Siri or Google with megatons of detailed information. Google sorts and presents gigatons of other information. Video calling, soon to be 3D, from anywhere to anywhere at pretty much zero cost. And soon to be 3D viewing from anywhere to anywhere to make a lot of tourism sight-seeing obsolete. Going into space to look back at Earth, or to get a close up on Moon, or Mars, will be better done from Earth, via space ship stereoscopic cameras, with high resolution 3D virtual reality being better than being in a cramped little space ship which might or might not get home and which would cost a fortune even if it didn't return. Weather reports with real-time rain radar is available with a click and no charge. Earthquake, volcano and tsunami gauges are a click away. Soon autonomous cars will be able to be piloted remotely through tricky circumstances by swarms of instantly on-call pilots who will steer and brake the car past whatever is happening, or call in support if the problem is serious. No taxi drivers needed - which will make autonomous taxis about a 10th of the current cost, which will mean owning a car will be pointless and horribly expensive. Right now to get to Auckland Airport by taxi is about $30. I calculate autonomous taxis will be about $3. Maybe it will be as low as $1 because electricity costs will be low and depreciation/wear and tear/maintenance of electric cars will be much lower than currently. There are swarms of mobile Cyberspace services. Artificial intelligence gaining ground too.
Meanwhile, while all that happened since 1989, gold bars continued to just sit there, doing nothing, going nowhere.
You're welcome.
Mqurice |
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