When it comes to manmade islands in space, eventually there would be
billions, and more, more than one. For one anology, Von Nuemann long ago
said future computers would so large and singular, city block size, that no
one would be able to afford one except the largest nations and corporations.

What actually happened? Micro-computers, individuality in flexible custom
modular system complexes, and local and wide area [networks] that make Von
Nuemann's vision of titannic city block size naked singularities look to be
so damn small and so damn tyrannically / anarchically centralized; too
closed systematic (to the entropic extreme of closed); and catastropically
expensive for the mass overhead to program population number, activity and
productivity ratio, by comparison.

It isn't the single manmade island (O'Neill colony ark or Stanford Torus,
other custom facility or ship) in space that will develop [take off]
viability. It will be the future ten, hundred, thousand, million, billion
and more; and the networking interactivity of them all (the LIFE of them
all).

GL

=================