When people claim alternative energy technologies will take decades to become viable, I have to wonder … where were they during the digital revolution? Have they forgotten that, the course of a decade or so, PCs turned from stodgy business machines or geeky toys into essential appliances in almost every home and office? During the same timeframe, cell phones evolved from clunky suitcases installed in flashy sports cars into featherweight appendages emerging from the ears of nearly every single person on the planet.

Nobody could’ve possibly predicted how quickly everything changed in those cases. The same thing will be true when it comes to alternative energy. Is there any doubt that every new car sold ten years from now will, at the very least, be a hybrid of some stripe? Why couldn’t every available rooftop feature solar panels? If all it takes to make hydrogen is water and electricity, isn’t it possible that electrolysis machines could be installed at existing gas stations, thereby allowing them to refuel hydrogen powered cars as well?

None of what I’m talking about here is science fiction. All it’s going to take is commitment. And excitement: As consumers and businesses begin saving money while increasing performance and quality of life, things will really get rolling. And once they get rolling, once the big brains that piled into the Internet gold rush see this as the next opportunity to build personal wealth while changing the world, things will change so fast it’ll blow your mind.