The Missing Piece: How Technological Revolutions Really Happen

There are moments in the history of technology when it feels as though only one piece is missing.

It is like a game of Tetris in which almost every row is complete. The pieces have already fallen, most of the spaces are filled, but one gap remains, preventing the rows from being completed. Then the right piece arrives, fits exactly where it is needed, and suddenly several rows are completed at once.

Technological revolutions often work in much the same way. They rarely emerge from a single brilliant invention appearing out of nowhere. More often, many of the necessary pieces already exist: mature technologies, available infrastructure, sufficient computing power, scientific knowledge, market demand, and sustainable costs. But until those pieces come together in the right combination, an innovation can remain on the verge of taking off for years without ever truly doing so.

That is what happened with...

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