This. And even knowing the long-term trend isn't a guarantee that you'll make money. Look at the late 90s: knowing the internet was going to be a huge thing was obvious, but it didn't necessarily translate to knowing who the winners and losers would be long term. You have to both understand the long-term trends AND be smart about the here-and-now.
Markets can stay irrational longer can you can stay solvent and all that. But you could have done pretty well with bitcoin if you got in early so long as you didn't jump out too early (or get scammed).
You may be ignoring that at the time of the bubble, many investors, and even regular people, though the internet wasn't that big a deal. Sure email meant we wouldn't send snail mail anymore, but the majority of people were still in the "it isn't safe to use my credit card online" world.
