2009-08-07
post/157839329
quote 11:50:50
“ [The] French chose to invest their science funds in refining nuclear power (and now have a more climate-friendly energy system) rather than develop their analog telephone system. […] In contrast the US chose to modernize its phone system (and keep burning coal while outlawing nuclear plants) and invested heavily in semiconductor R&D. ”
Kevin Kelly in The Technium: Progression of the Inevitable, in which he argues that many technological (and scientific) advances are of their time. As this quote illustrates, however, feasibility doesn’t imply adoption.
