You say that innovations are historical
emergences. What does that mean?
When you take a long view, you see
that innovations seem to appear at moments
in history when the conditions
are most conducive. The conditions
are a need in the social community,
and the existence of a suitable technology
base. The innovation begins when
someone proposes a new combination
of existing technologies and components
to meet the need. Timing is delicate
and critical. Once the conditions
are “ripe,” several people may propose
the same innovation around the same
time. Many innovation proposals fail
because of poor timing: there is too little
interest in the social community or the technologies needed to make them
work do not exist.