Collapsing the Short and Long

Although the author is writing about computers that play chess, I think the point can be extrapolated to the wider world:

With ever more powerful processors, silicon chess players developed the ability to calculate so far ahead that the distinction between short-term tactical calculations and long-term strategic planning became blurred.

I think about this quite a lot. It's easier than ever to prototype something and to get feedback on that prototype. What once took years of planning, now takes months or days and often it is cheaper to just make the thing than to figure out whether it's worth making. Obviously a lot of my thinking is specific to the technology/web/marketing industries, but I think it has ramifications outside as well.