Welll, I was being tongue-in-cheek re Smaug as in much of my comment, but I doubt she'd have liked the little folks.
As to the technology, it reminds me of The Fountainhead where the hero rails against his professors for only using classical designs instead of using the new materials, tech, etc to apply new concepts. I think of Sauron's rings as being his own usage and spells. After all the Elvish ones weren't control oriented, so his was innovative. As to Project X, well, Sauron did most of his own work on magic items. As to his orcisah forges and weapons smiths, how diufferent is that from the Gondorian arsenals? NB - As an odd note, bear in mind that had Sauron been absent, it is likely the Goblins/orcs woul dbe hunted slowly to extinction. Hard to see the shire happily accepting Orcish refugees....
Sorry about my misunderstanding. I've never read The Fountainhead - only Atlas Shrugged and Anthem and a few essays - so I guess I didn't see where you were coming from.