Will they become a powerhouse in software too? Not likely -- at least not this decade. Their culture works against them here. People, at least when I visited five years ago, were not taught to think differently. That's a trait that software development requires unless you're doing the most rudimentary coding to spec. Actually, they might do real well there.

What's interesting to me is how little most Americans know (or care about) China. I think that's a huge mistake and one that we'll come to worry about over the next 10 to 20 years.