I remember 20-30 years ago, people were screaming for better/cheaper data storage options, and there was a news report every week about a new "Harddisk" made from crystals, metals, sellotape, unobtanium, wood or cow poop that was supposed to store a bazillion exabytes per square inch.

These days everyone wants bigger/better/cheaper batteries, and there is a news article every week about a new battery chemistry made from crystals, metals, sellotape, unobtanium, wood or cow poop.

Progress can only happen when people try out stuff. But hailing every little thing that worked in the lab (and got blown out of proportion by universities and instituions eager for PR and journalists eager for clicks) as the new game-changer is really, really tiring. Show me that something can be made, practically and economically, at scale. At which point I don't NEED a news article since the thing will be available in stores.

So much this. I remember the time. Most search engines were self-declared "portals" cluttered with all kinds of stuff and search was just one feature among many. Most of this other stuff no one wanted or needed, but the search engines insisted on it, whether because it was making them money or they saw it as added value or the designer though a mostly empty page looked dumb or the managers were bored by their own core functionality...

Whereas google did just search, did it well, and did it fast.