I've been through a few cycles of tech disruptions, but I always go back to a story from the 80's that happened to my dad. Time for a thread (1/9)

In the mid-late 80's my dad was a co-founder of a startup in the field of computer vision. They built cutting edge hardware-software solutions in fields like security (way before the Mosad's automated machinegun), autonomous vehicles (way before Waymo or Tesla), and more. (2/9)

At one point, a U.S. based car manufacturer hired them to build computer vision to an automated assembling facility. Back then robots were just emerging and cars were build mostly by humans on an assembly line. U.S. was trailing behind Japan and trying to catch up. (3/9)

When the project was ready for live testing, my dad flew to the U.S. (we lived in Israel) to visit the site and make sure the tech works. The facility included side-by-side both the legacy human-centric assembly line and the automated robotic one they just set up. (4/9)

One day, my dad arrived to site and discovered that nothing worked. The robots stopped working and the video screens went dark. The system could not continue building cars as it should, the robots were idle and the whole project was in jeopardy. (5/9)

They could not find any software problems and had to inspect the hardware. To their surprise all cameras were smeared with mud and grease. A quick investigation concluded that it was a sabotage by the assembly line employees who were fearful for their job. (6/9)

The reason I always remember this story is that tech driven disruption may intimidate many people. When people's livelihood is threatened they will act in fear and try to reject or even resort to sabotage. It's a defense mechanism. (7/9)

Yet, technology always wins. Efficiency always wins. People lose their jobs but new jobs emerge (before covid-19 we had historical low unemployment numbers). People who are trained experts may find their expertise an irrelevant relic and new skills must be learned. (8/9)

This thread is for you: bankers, traders, auditors, financial analysts and advisors, etc. There is a small robot in the corner called blockchain, you will try to resist by smearing mud on its lens but all you will get is mud on your hands. Learn crypto. Long #Bitcoin . (9/9)