Electric Lighting, Tr. by P. Higgs

Merely having a bigger, faster, more powerful device for doing something is no guarantee of ready acceptance. Innumerable such technologies were either not adopted at all or adopted only after prolonged resistance. Notorious examples include the U.S. Congress's rejection of funds to develop a supersonic transport in 1971, the world's continued rejection of an efficiently designed typewriter keyboard, and Britain's long reluctance to adopt electric lighting. What is it that promotes aa invention's acceptance by a society? Let's begin by comparing the acceptability of different inventions within the same society. It turns out that at least four factors influence acceptance. The first and most obvious factor is relative economic advantage com- Z 4 8 • GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL pared with existing technology. While wheels are very useful in modern industrial societies, that has not been so in some other societies. Ancient Native Mexicans invented wheeled vehicles with axles for use as toys, but not for transport ...»