Silicon Valley has a troubling tendency to overlook what normal people actually want, instead focusing on rediscovering ideas that have been well-known for decades. This isn’t just hubris; it’s an alarming shift from serving customers to inventing the future without much regard for their desires.

Elon Musk basking in the complexity of hands? Artists and surgeons had this figured out long ago. Claiming no one has done a postmortem on One Laptop Per Child? Such knowledge is well-documented, just not as flashy as a new discovery.

Their overconfidence isn’t just annoying; it’s detrimental to innovation. The iMac, iPod and iPhone were all about meeting specific needs: ease of use, portability and an expansive app ecosystem. By contrast, many current initiatives seem more interested in creating novelty than solving real problems.

This mindset leads to products that are cool for early adopters but struggle with mass appeal. True innovation should solve existing problems; reinventing the wheel is a luxury we can’t afford if our tech sector wants lasting success.