Rise of IT and Rise of U.S.A

             Since I am working in the U.S., this subject should follow the previous post. Let me begin by making a statement – If India rose by virtue of its IT prowess, half of the credit goes to the U.S. What an advanced nation and what an empowerment of a young, developing nation. I get tears in my eyes when I look at the brilliance of the U.S. in this regard. I don’t know if it is a debt incurred by India, the development of India or the development of the U.S. or the largesse of the U.S. It might be anything, but the IT revolution in the U.S. a few decades back, made a success story for young India Inc at its most needed time. India emerged to scale new heights by virtue of the timely opportunities created in this field by the U.S. Once again, I don’t know the business value or any hidden agenda of the U.S. but I can tell you the true story of myself and nothing else, as part of the larger picture. I am yet to decode what makes the U.S. so great and achieve all of it for itself and for the sake of the world. The story of the last few decades is astonishing to say the least, of which I am a part.

          Since I am talking about Tech, we cannot just talk about India and ignore the U.S., even if I am from India. Hence it became the subject for this blog post. The tech revolution in the U.S. is the most important contribution of mankind to me. Everyone asks out of frustration sometimes - What is the U.S.? Why is it rated so high? Why is it always in every picture? It is for the simple reason - the country gives lifelines for millions of people around the world. What is a lifeline – it can be work, tools to work, money for work and the entire existence of many small people like me. When the master invents something, it becomes a medium of livelihood, bread, and butter for millions around the world. The tech boom and inroads made are one of the many fields where this idol worship of the master can be seen. I cannot think of other fields or don’t know much about them and limit myself to my own self and area of work.

            Everyone wants or strives to be relevant to some other person. Every commodity and every service we use in our day to day living are relevant to our lives. At its roots, the IT revolution ushered in PCs, OS, Software, Internet, Mobiles, and everything around digital. The relevance of this digital in our day to day lives is astonishing. In my case, it is more than 50% of my time. Without digital or IT emergence, my emergence has no meaning; I am unknown and nothing. Every finger behind the digital, tech, and IT progress in the world points to one country which produced all these meaningful outcomes in the first place. Without a mobile, I don’t have a better companion after I became an adult and without a PC, I don’t have a better companion since I was a child. The role of the U.S. is something similar to: I want to create something and see everyone around the world use it like their living depends on it. What an astonishing penetration and what an astonishing relevance.

Let me go through some cool facts and see where tech and the U.S. stand.

Cool fact # 1:

It is a fact that Big tech is a driver of growth in the country. However, the big Tech grew much more rapidly than the U.S. and could lead the direction of the nation in the years to come. Big tech has the power to dictate the mood of the economy and the economy itself. Technology is responsible for driving more of the US economy than any other profession aside from healthcare. Withholding the difference in growth, the big tech has consolidated the U.S. position as undisputed leader in the world. The big five – Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have done outstanding jobs nationally and globally in generating income, jobs and making a difference to the lives of people. No praise can be less for these tech giants.

Cool fact # 2:

 To tell you an example of the monetary benefits of these tech giants - consumers value search engines at $17,530 per year, email at $8,414 per year, digital maps at $3,648 per year, and social media at $322 per year. But the price to access these services is typically ZERO. The price of digital advertising has fallen more than 40% in the last decade. The price of books has fallen more than 40% since 1997, the year Amazon went public. Social media and messaging apps are priced at zero. It is an undisputed fact that big tech are helping consumers in a very big way beyond doing great business at the same time.

Cool fact # 3:

Over the past few years, as we have seen, the most rapidly changing sector of all time is ‘Technology’. This sector will always boom because nobody can really stop the technology and the point is, it should never be stopped either. With the passage of time, we need more growth, we need more development, we need continuous progress in our lives, and that’s what technology is trying to do all over the years through its agility and a sense of urgency.

Cool fact # 4:

In the Great Recession more than a decade ago, big tech companies hit a rough patch just like everyone else. But in the pandemic, unlike everyone else, they have become unquestioned winners of the economy. The earnings rose by more than 25% in the times of pandemic stressing the importance of online and digital operations.

Cool fact # 5:

Amazon employs 1.2 million employees worldwide with revenues surpassing the economies of smaller countries. The size and magnitude of the big five and beyond is sheer awesome and spell bound.

These are some of the cool facts from the cool tech companies to keep us cool.  The cooling effects of the cool tech are very much required in the U.S.  to stay cool.

          The mention of these basic facts is enough and no further deep-dive is required on this topic. Still, let me resume by making another cool statement relevant to these times: The work in IT should be like playing a game, game, and game alone. It should not blow out of proportions. Life is simple when we are restricted to enjoying work similar to playing games. Any work in IT should be like this and to be frank, I am also enjoying my time here in IT. The freedom to be yourself is the biggest asset and I am enjoying being myself. This kind of ease should be there for any IT employee who should work like playing a game. Restrict to this, don’t cross the lines, don’t pervade the boundaries, and don’t chart into unknown territories. Life will be much more simpler and more uncomplicated. I would like anyone to compress, control and limit the work to the state of a play and nothing additional.