The five mules pulling the 21st century

(Image: Getty)

Sat, 03 Jan 2026

By Andy Kessler The 20th century was characterised by industrial might, lowering the cost of manufacturing, transportation and computing. The 21st century so far has seen spectacular growth by lowering the cost of information and maybe even knowledge. Here are five mules pulling this century along:• Asynchronous. Face-to-face meetings. Phone calls. The CBS Evening News at 7. Beyond first-class mail, life used to be synchronous. Real time. Snap decisions. Then along came answering machines. Leave a message, I’ll get back to you l...

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