Why did it take so long to invent the wheelbarrow? Have we hit peak innovation? What our list reveals about imagination, optimism, and the nature of progress.
Source: The 50 Greatest Breakthroughs Since the Wheel – The Atlantic
A few years old, but still interesting. For example:
By expanding the pool of potentially literate people, the adoption of corrective lenses may have amounted to the largest onetime IQ boost in history.
Its economists used to champion big firms, but the mood has shifted
Source: Schumpeter: The University of Chicago worries about a lack of competition | The Economist
There is an emerging consensus among economists that competition in the economy has weakened significantly. That is bad news: it means that incumbent firms may not need to innovate as much, and that inequality may increase if companies can hoard profits and spend less on investment and wages.
Yes, I certainly see this in tech fields.The double consequences are scary.
Thanks to colleague Prof. Liz Lyons for suggesting this.
Same-day delivery for Amazon ” is taking an increasing toll on Yamato’s drivers because of the high volume of nighttime deliveries.”
The company had been considering partly terminating contracts with major clients who refused to accept raised shipping fees or deferring delivery days during peak periods.
Source: Overwhelmed Yamato mulls exit from Amazon’s same-day delivery service | The Japan Times
Package delivery is one of the only employment categories that is increasing as retailing moves more toward the Internet. But as this article implies, we will see more change in how retailers and deliverers manage the last step in the B-to-C supply chain. Why doesn’t Yamato raise its prices?
Why doesn’t Yamato raise its prices? Perhaps they don’t want to compete with other delivery services in late night delivery?
We yearn for frictionless technological solutions. But people talking to people is still the way that norms and standards change.
Selling “light,” not light bulbs, is one way that companies providing long-lasting bulbs hope to stay in business, even after “socket saturation” sets in.
Source: Trying to Solve the L.E.D. Quandary – The New Yorker
The idea of a Silicon Valley-funded litigation-finance company has alarmed a number of journalists, but what Legalist does is not so new.
Source: What Litigation Finance Is Really About – The New Yorker
There is a bipartisan consensus that the shrinking of American manufacturing is a central story of America today. Why?
Art and Science in Technology - Roger Bohn's Blog 