Put a Road Closed sign on Al Gore's Information Superhighway. The convergence of hardware has come to pass. The computer has disassembled itself and become an orchestration of communications devices and information appliances. The home network, the greatest demand ever witnessed, is about to be born. Satellite systems are in place, and will go live this summer to bolster connectivity.
Markets are certainly global.
Faster broadband access is now available. The shakeout on the financial markets has just about burnt itself out. There are plenty of science and engineering tidbits in the queue to feed the fire. Ways to redistribute the workforce to meet real time employer demand without high cost outsourcing are being explored. Government is examining the tax based economy and struggling desperately to keep its hands off, drooling all over itself all the while.