@pluralistic The idea of companies and industries stalling out because the whole industry can't upgrade to the newest technology sounds a whole lot like technical debt.

I've been wondering recently if not only companies but countries (and empires) are susceptible to this. I think of the UK trying to run a 20th century empire with an infrastructure designed for coal. Or the US trying to run a 21st century empire on an infrastructure designed for oil. Of course these empires decline. They have to pay the technical debt on the existing systems, while their competitors don't. So that would make Riley/Brenner theory a private sector corollary to imperial decline.

Hey look at this

* EU's New Digital Package Proposal Promises Red Tape Cuts but Guts GDPR https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/eus-new-digital-package-proposal-promises-red-tape-cuts-guts-gdpr-privacy-rights

* We Can Finally Kiss the Metaverse Goodbye https://gizmodo.com/looks-like-we-can-finally-kiss-the-metaverse-goodbye-2000695825

* New Anonymous Phone Carrier Lets You Sign Up With Nothing but a Zip Code https://www.wired.com/story/new-anonymous-phone-carrier-sign-up-with-nothing-but-a-zip-code/

* Microsoft drops AI sales targets in half after salespeople miss quotas https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/microsoft-slashes-ai-sales-growth-targets-as-customers-resist-unproven-agents/

* Hidden Cost of Ceding Government Procurement to a Monopoly Gatekeeper https://ilsr.org/article/independent-business/turning-public-money-into-amazons-profits/

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