Progress is hard to quantify. We developed language, what, hundreds of thousands of years ago? And then very little seemed to happen, but it was a slow-burning fire that eventually exploded. Our use of computers seems almost sure to be similar.

But that said, there are certainly structural factors inhibiting innovation. Scale problems make it nearly impossible to challenge someone like Google or Facebook (although TikTok did manage the latter). Were there more competition, one imagines there would be more innovation. Patents are likely a net drag. Laws, esp. tax laws, could be simpler. I'm sure I'm omitting other important factors.