“As I am a diamond diver I am quite interested in the diamond industry and its outlook. My current and mid-term investments are focused on the acquisition and development of technology that can build my business into a sustainable enterprise notwithstanding the existential challenges we are facing from climate change and resource depletion.

“To this end I was in Southampton earlier this year to attend the Ocean Business trade fair which enabled me to identify and acquire a very good sonar imaging system for seabed classification.

“The way in which software development is bringing hi-tech within reach of people like myself who have no specialist training or background was quite an eye opener and I suspect that there is enormous growth potential for hi-tech companies in using software development to enable lay people to use all kinds of technology that has only been accessible in the past to specialists.

“In the near term I will not be investing in financial markets but I find Fuller Money very helpful in constructing my world view and the articles on robots, machines and technology resonate deeply with my own feelings of how the world is changing.

“Thank you for the great wisdom I have gained in the past as a Daily Comment subscriber and for the future as a full subscriber.”

Eoin Treacy's view Thank you for this generous email and welcome to the Service. As you point out we firmly believe that the exponential rate at which technology is both developing and becoming available to ever more people is a true game changer for how we live our lives as well as conduct and manage our businesses.

The march of robotics, rapid prototyping, automated manufacturing, software development, data warehousing, handheld devices, optics, measuring devices, wireless connectivity, nanotechnology, biomechanics and a host of additional strands of innovation all represent efficiency and productivity gains when taken in isolation. When they are combined the capacity of additional innovation holds the potential to accelerate the pace of development so that productivity is increased by multiples over the next few decades.

The order given to so many students over the years has been to "Stay in school". However this is far too restrictive. Many worry that the pace of development will lead to mass unemployment and this will be a challenge for some. What we can also see is that those who prosper are likely to be the people that view schooling as a foundation for lifelong learning regardless of whether our individual proclivities take us down the academic or practical paths.