Spectator Competition: Outta Palo Alto

In Competition 3354 you were invited to put yourselves in the shoes (or head) of a tech billionaire. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Elon Musk provided the most inspiration. Paul Freeman had him intent on world domination:

That bozo Bezos and schmuck Zuck will serve
as jesters to my court. They’ll daily taste
my food in case some traitor has the nerve
to poison it. Their loss will be no waste.

There were also some nicely random Jeff Bezos pensées courtesy of Basil Ransome-Davies. ‘Maybe I’m the Dylan of corporate technology. Or he is the Bezos of popular music?’

The winners are £25 closer to a billion.

From time to time I flick through online news,
And if, by chance, the journal’s not my own,
I sometimes find a less than trusting view
Of all the worldly kindliness I’ve shown.

‘Ye gods, it doth amaze me,’ someone said
In sandals, in a dusty Roman play,
And frankly, I’m astounded by it now,
That ignorance still flourishes today!

So listen, guys: the deal is very clear:
A headset that’ll take you to the Moon
Is yours, if you’ll allow a screwed-in wire
To send back brain responses via Zoom.