All this was knowable when A123 went public, and when the U.S. Department of Energy marched down the electric-car path.

FORBES: A123 Bites the Dust Because They Forgot Their ABCs

"I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time, " he says.

WSJ: Holman W. Jenkins Jr.: Google and the Search for the Future