Comments on: Are there new inventions? http://www.devinreams.com/2006/11/29/are-there-new-inventions/ business, internet, commentary and more Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:12:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Devin http://www.devinreams.com/2006/11/29/are-there-new-inventions/#comment-770 Devin Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:24:22 +0000 http://devinreams.com/2006/11/29/are-there-new-inventions/#comment-770 You're right, Michael. And I agree with what you're saying- there is a lot between point A and point B. I guess that wasn't the point of my post but I enjoy your comment. The way I still see it is we are constantly evolving some foundation concepts. ..I like to make things simpler I suppose. You’re right, Michael. And I agree with what you’re saying- there is a lot between point A and point B. I guess that wasn’t the point of my post but I enjoy your comment. The way I still see it is we are constantly evolving some foundation concepts.

..I like to make things simpler I suppose.

]]> By: Michael http://www.devinreams.com/2006/11/29/are-there-new-inventions/#comment-769 Michael Mon, 11 Dec 2006 00:50:40 +0000 http://devinreams.com/2006/11/29/are-there-new-inventions/#comment-769 While I agree with you that YouTube (and by this I really mean embedded flash video players) is hardly the invention of the year (unless your metric is simply return on investment), I think you're being overly restrictive in your definition of 'invention'. In hindsight, everything looks obvious and evolutionary -- but to see it when you're in the thick of things is the trick. Take your telephone vs. internet example. In between the development of the two, a million conceptual leaps had to occur before anyone put the pieces together. We had to go from dedicated lines to circuit-switched lines. We had to realize that analog data could be digitized. We had to realize that digital data could be chunked and reassembled. Error-correcting codes had to be invented. We invented the concept of a packet-switched network. A huge amount of mathematics and electrical engineering had to be invented... When you see both inventions side by side, yes, you can easily say that they're both "nationwide systems of connections allowing real-time communication and transfer of information.” But had you suggested the concept of the internet to Bell, he would have said "can't get there from here". While I agree with you that YouTube (and by this I really mean embedded flash video players) is hardly the invention of the year (unless your metric is simply return on investment), I think you’re being overly restrictive in your definition of ‘invention’. In hindsight, everything looks obvious and evolutionary — but to see it when you’re in the thick of things is the trick.

Take your telephone vs. internet example. In between the development of the two, a million conceptual leaps had to occur before anyone put the pieces together. We had to go from dedicated lines to circuit-switched lines. We had to realize that analog data could be digitized. We had to realize that digital data could be chunked and reassembled. Error-correcting codes had to be invented. We invented the concept of a packet-switched network. A huge amount of mathematics and electrical engineering had to be invented…

When you see both inventions side by side, yes, you can easily say that they’re both “nationwide systems of connections allowing real-time communication and transfer of information.” But had you suggested the concept of the internet to Bell, he would have said “can’t get there from here”.

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