Virtual Wealth

Almost everything I have done since the early 1990s to earn a living has involved computers or programming in some fashion.  Thus I have created a fair amount of wealth for myself (and my customers) by manipulating bits in computer memory in various ways, and tricking this amazing piece of technology to make lives and businesses run smoother (at least that is the hope -- it hasn't always worked out that way).

And I am not alone there are many entrepreneurs and consultants who are making a very good living selling/packaging/building this intangible thing called software that yet creates real value for a lot of people (often very substantially).

I get so busy just coding or thinking about how to make our service (webchalet.com) better, how to make my consulting practice better, that I forget how truly unique this situation is.

We have a larger and larger segment of our population that is generating real wealth by producing (virtual) intangible goods  (as opposed to tangible goods like real cars, radios, etc..).  And many of those tangible goods are being produced by robots. 

This is why even though manufacturing jobs are declining, more cars and other items are actually getting produced (because more and more of the work can be automated).

Eventually we will reach a point in time when most of our daily needs could in theory be provided through robots and automation.