i've added the third poll because the question was posed at the conference and i found it interesting. feel free to discuss the issue here and i'll expand more when i have some time....
It depends on the invention really. The Internet would be an example of something designed to fulfill a necessity, even though it evolved into something else as time went on. Vaccines and antibiotics are examples of serendipity. Cars and television are inventions of creative tinkering that did not gain wide acceptance until they were more useful than earlier technologies that fulfilled the necessity.
Financing, while helpful to developing an invention, doesn't really generate new inventions. The invention usually comes from a need, a lucky find, tinkering or some combination of the three.
3 comments:
It depends on the invention really. The Internet would be an example of something designed to fulfill a necessity, even though it evolved into something else as time went on. Vaccines and antibiotics are examples of serendipity. Cars and television are inventions of creative tinkering that did not gain wide acceptance until they were more useful than earlier technologies that fulfilled the necessity.
Financing, while helpful to developing an invention, doesn't really generate new inventions. The invention usually comes from a need, a lucky find, tinkering or some combination of the three.
I voted for 'necessity' but really it's all those things.
It's usually said that 'necessity is the mother of invention' but I think it's Frank Zappa.
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