Unpopular opinion: when the dust settles — whether that’s in 10 years or 20 — the real winners of the internet and the digital era won’t be the US or Big Tech. They’ll be Indians, especially English-speaking Indians.
Yes, the companies that indexed and monetized the internet were built in the US. But digital adoption didn’t end there. The internet took off in the ’90s, scaled in the 2000s, and exploded in the 2020s. By the 2040s, Indians will be the largest users of the internet purely by population. They speak English, they’re digitally native, and they’re not comfortable — which means they’re hungry, ambitious, and motivated to climb economically.
That combination matters more than who built the platforms. In the long run, the biggest beneficiaries of digital will be the people who use it at scale with urgency. By that measure, Indians win. And ironically, the biggest losers may be the West, which built the systems but grew complacent inside them.
Yes, the companies that indexed and monetized the internet were built in the US. But digital adoption didn’t end there. The internet took off in the ’90s, scaled in the 2000s, and exploded in the 2020s. By the 2040s, Indians will be the largest users of the internet purely by population. They speak English, they’re digitally native, and they’re not comfortable — which means they’re hungry, ambitious, and motivated to climb economically.
That combination matters more than who built the platforms. In the long run, the biggest beneficiaries of digital will be the people who use it at scale with urgency. By that measure, Indians win. And ironically, the biggest losers may be the West, which built the systems but grew complacent inside them.
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