The next big thing (Dave's timeline of entrepreneurs)
scripting.com
scripting.com
I think this site and the referenced bloggers have a software-centric focus. There may well be a significant number of successful 20-somethings in software businesses. But software is a subset of technology and one cannot apply the observations here to technology in general.
Consider this: the global market for communications equipment exceeds 1 trillion dollars -- there's a lot of opportunity there for domain specific expertise that often times requires an advanced degree and experience in the industry. Companies such as Qualcomm and Broadcom are other examples where the founders were well-established in their careers, i.e. not 20-something.
Honestly I found it annoying for a while, until I realized it would be a waste of time to qualify the term startup every time when it's clear what the domain of conversation is.
Regarding web startups: well, a few of them are quite innovative but most of them are indeed uninteresting copies of copies of copies... It's boring.
So, who is working on something else than web stuff here? Any hardware startups?
We are working on a wireless hw/sw/fw startup. Of late I've had at least one Web2.0 person express an interest in working for us. I expect we'll find many others who find the web startup scene boring.
"Of late I've had at least one Web2.0 person express an interest in working for us."
Well, you have a second interested person now! But I'm not a web 2.0 person; I'm an embedded software developer (and I, too, find this whole web hype very boring). Where can I find more info? Your profile is empty :(
And significant hurdles to market. In some ways you have to have balls to launch a hardware product. In coms, you have to create the software but the physical hardware as well. Much harder than pure software. You also have all the problems of creating & selling physical things, logistics, inventory, packaging. Yet more skills, risk & as you point out, more reward.
He's trying to refute Wilson's idea that younger people are developing the design patterns of the web while older people are used to reading the newspaper, watching TV and generally out of touch with what's going on with technology. Steve Jobs seems to be a pretty good example of a person whose ideas about technology have improved with age.
In any case, the idea that the average twentysomething is more plugged in than the average fortysomething may be valid, but it should be obvious that the situation changes when you are comparing individuals who are interested in and devoted to technology development.