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February 20, 2007
Greatest Innovations
The consulting firm Doblin has come up with a list of The Greatest Innovations of All Time:
1. Weapons
2. Mathematics and the number zero
3. Money
4. Printing
5. Free markets and capital markets
6. Domesticated animals and agriculture
7. Property ownership
8. Limited liability
9. Participatory democracy
10. Anesthetics and surgery
11. Vaccines and antibiotics
12. Semiconductors
13. The Internet
14. Genetic sequencing
15. Containerized shipping
Personally I think they missed some - including language. But it is an interesting idea.
It is especially an interesting idea because many of the innovations are essentially intangibles - not technologies. For example, mathematics, free markets, ownership, limited liability, democracy are all intangible social inventions. Money has a physical manifestation - but it is essentially an idea.
So, lesson for today: when you think about innovation and national innovation policy, think about the full range of innovations (not just the next gizmo).
Posted by Ken Jarboe at February 20, 2007 10:27 AM
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