2 members have asked the same fundamental question in the last week.

Here's what they asked/said:

Responding to the Key trends report: "Well this isn't confidence inspiring at all to read, but the sad part is its all true. As a young person in the industry this makes me want to consider changing industries."

Commenting on the Axis miss: "Should we all take a sabbatical from this industry?? :) I was always under the impression that this is an emerging market, unlike a telecom or IT industry."

Before I comment, let's take a poll. Vote now:

Compared to a dozen years ago, the industry has far less potential / upside. Between VCRs to DVRs, analog to IP, and the global war on terrorism, you had big drivers going for the industry.

Now, what do you have for the industry? VSaaS? sigh. Analytics? One day, hopefully.

Tthe underlying potential and growth in the web startup space is far higher than in surveillance and should remain for years (despite the tech bubble). For those technically inclined, being a web / mobile applications developer has lots of upside. For the business folks, I think the next big think is online marketing. There's clearly a shortage of talented folks there and the impact they can have on internet businesses is big.

What do you think?