There's one hiccup in this line of thought: You can't always predict how the flashy toy tech will turn out to be a benefit later on.
Case in point, Kinect. It should have been just a play accessory, but it's being used to help people with disabilities, like the wi-Go : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-17jRfX9Sw
Just like cosmetics and other "vanity medicine" used in the West can have life-saving applications elsewhere, for now, we get Angry Birds. It may turn out to something else later on.
The point is, cumulative knowledge can lead to great things later on. It's the NASA trickle-down theory.
I'm sure if we spent billions to build another Great Pyramid we'd discover a bunch of things that are peripherally helpful to society in other ways. But it will still be an enormous waste of resources. If we want more medical cures we should be funding work towards medical cures.
Case in point, Kinect. It should have been just a play accessory, but it's being used to help people with disabilities, like the wi-Go : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-17jRfX9Sw
And also aiding surgeons during operations as well as helping disabled children interact with their environment with more subtle gestures. http://kotaku.com/5950834/in-japan-the-kinect-may-soon-be-mo...
Just like cosmetics and other "vanity medicine" used in the West can have life-saving applications elsewhere, for now, we get Angry Birds. It may turn out to something else later on.
The point is, cumulative knowledge can lead to great things later on. It's the NASA trickle-down theory.