I find make, cmake, and the other stuff annoying also. For personal stuff I just use a build.sh file. For debugging I use gf2, which is a gdb frontend. Hopefully raddebugger gets ported to linux soon. One nice tool I like on linux for prototyping is the tiny c compiler, because it compiles 7x faster than gcc or clang. It is also much faster than the visual studio compiler. I remember trying to get the tiny c compiler to work on windows; it can compile things, but I couldn't get it to generate pdb files for debug info.
To set the record straight, I was the one that reached out to the creator to get his story, because I thought the cards were cool. He would not have spent the time doing this interview if I hadn't asked him to.
I know of CyberBadge from Poland, which is making a very primitive version of what you're describing. They don't have a screen, just an array of programmable led lights. People use them at events. https://cyberbadge.net/
Whenever I see a hardware startup that I personally would like to know more about, I reach out.
I have had the most success with messaging people on Hacker News who have mentioned their company. They seem to be the most open. I have also talked to people on Reddit, CrowdSupply, and companies I have seen in the news.
Does the mining industry need help with software? I was talking to someone with experience in the the oil & gas sector and he mentioned that there is a lot of things that could be automated because scraping data and data entry is often being done by hand.
Thinking Mathematically by Mason, Burton, and Stacey. It helps with solving math problems and in the process teaches heuristics to improve self-awareness and observational skills.
Beyond biting the bullet and paying for the expensive construction costs the only immediate solution I could see is more remote workers and a decentralization of offices away from city centers. Other possibilities might be improvement and adoption of self-driving cars, or better urban planning, yet those seem more unpredictable to me.