Well they weren't necessarily bad. I think the Numenor (?) Kings of Westernesse (?), I dunno whatever the old Gondor kings were called, used them effectively. It was just Sauron that took over and made them dangerous. So, effective but dangerous in the wrong hand. Yeah, I guess, even that is pretty prophetic, heh.

I had no idea it was a lord of the rings reference. Here’s an apt quote from wikipedia: “The [palantir] stones were an unreliable guide to action, since what was not shown could be more important than what was selectively presented.”

Or, Anduril.

All the techbros love them some Lord of the Rings.