Their patents would have been quickly infringed by predatory larger corporations and rather than engage in unequal litigation battles against deep-pocketed and ruthless opponents, they could have felt forced to share their technology on concessionary terms.
The other two--the economy is at the end of a decade-long expansion and the post-Olympic letdown is making itself felt--will help ensure that this will be a long and deep downturn.
Huddled with my wife in our Tokyo apartment during the post-quake swarm of tremors, we felt a deep kinship via the Internet with many friends throughout the world.