The old tech industry is collapsing, and its replacement has yet to emerge

Summary

The article is a deeply personal, philosophical essay by Baldur Bjarnason, written from Hveragerði, Iceland, reflecting on the collapse of the old tech industry paradigm and the uncertain emergence of something new. The author uses his Icelandic identity and the setting of a volcanic, geothermally active town as a metaphor for destruction and rebirth. The piece critiques the current state of technology — its broken business models, the death of the old web, the failures of venture capital, and the unsustainable nature of big tech — while exploring what might come next. It blends memoir, cultural commentary, and tech industry analysis, arguing that the old world of tech is dying and the new one has not yet been born, leaving a period of painful transition.