Comment by skosuri
14 years ago
It's hard to spot innovation while it's happening. While the transistor revolutionized our world, I'm sure few people understood it's implications in 1947. Similarly, investments that Google, Apple, Facebook, and IBM make now might seem either incremental (making an open OS for a phone) or gimmicky (driverless cars, HUD), but that's how research coming out of Bell Labs might have been viewed 60 years ago without the benefit of hindsight.
Popular Science in 1948 had an article "This Capsule Challenges Vacuum Tube" on the germanium transistor calling it a device that may spark a revolution in electronics, and discussing various applications like much smaller radios, better TVs, and improved telephone transmission. They point out that the future success of the device depends on its cost, but mass-production might be possible. Computers are notably not mentioned. Link: http://books.google.com/books?id=YCcDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA117&...
Agreed. Lets not forget that Google has X labs, and while secretive, we at least know they will pave the way for augmenting reality and self-driving cars. That's pretty innovative.