<i>&gt; Intel would never be possible in a world with 1mm people; their fab centers are spectacularly expensive fixed costs.</i><p>I think that&#x27;s an interesting point that&#x27;s the continuation of OP&#x27;s line of thinking + Ford&#x27;s original thinking. Facebook&#x2F;etc (to return to the pure-digital companies) would not be possible in a world without X people <i>with disposable income</i>. It&#x27;s tough to make money on people who can&#x27;t afford things. How&#x27;s MySpace doing vs Facebook?<p>Which imho is a rebuttal the opinion that these kinds of &quot;pure tech&quot; jobs do scale -- true, but only in relation to the number of <i>other</i> jobs people are already earning income from. You can&#x27;t squeeze blood (revenue) from an (unemployed) stone.