General > General Technical Chat
New technology doesn’t exist; everything was invented in the 60’s
TimNJ:
Joke title and obviously not true..
But, was perusing a local vintage electronics store (Green Brook Electronics) and picked up a copy of “Thin-Film and Semiconductor Integrated Circuitry” (John M. Doyle, 1966).
I’ve had this same thought before, but I’m always amazed the amount of “new technology” that was actually invented 50 years ago or more. For example, this new fangled “flip-chip” stuff has been around for ages it seems. To me, it seems like there was such a crazy boom in advancement in such a short period of time.
What are some other examples?
nctnico:
Just the other day I was explaining to my youngest son that the majority of the math that drives our digital world has been invented before or soon after 1900.
TimNJ:
Indeed. In general, the delay in adoption of new technologies (including mathematics, algorithms, etc.) is probably explained by there being no real need or no practical (see: economical) way to implement, at the time of discovery.
daqq:
--- Quote ---Indeed. In general, the delay in adoption of new technologies (including mathematics, algorithms, etc.) is probably explained by there being no real need or no practical (see: economical) way to implement, at the time of discovery.
--- End quote ---
That's the thing about basic research - the profits may be a long way down the line - they might even not be, but if they are they can be massive. Just look at scientific novelties and curiosities of their time like electricity and radio waves.
TimFox:
Early in this millennium, I thought that the only useful novelty from the 21st century was the thumb drive, but I quickly found it was also a 20th century invention.
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