he following remarks were delivered by Mark P. Mills at a recent Manhattan Institute forum on his forthcoming book, "Digital Cathedrals' (Encounter Books, January 2020).
My plan today is to paint a picture of the technological landscape in the near future.
That building epitomized the convergence of technologies that propelled the 20th century. Skyscrapers became possible because of the maturation of the then-new technology domains of steel, steam, and electricity—and the car. Electricity made possible both the subway and the elevator, and the automobile expanded the reach and density of traffic, which enabled the economic concentration of skyscrapers.
On the day the Woolworth building was christened, the New York Times called it a “cathedral of commerce.” People then were in awe of such a building because it had taken 600 years to surpass the previous record height for a habitable structure. Until 1913, no building had topped England’s Lincoln Cathedral, with its 524-foot tower—completed in 1311.
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