

Any products that came out of nowhere to change the world? - rinkjustice
http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-products-or-services-that-came-out-of-nowhere-were-completely-underestimated-and-went-on-to-change-the-world

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bobf
A few things I initially thought of, that seemingly came out of nowhere and
changed the world, were -- the steam engine, lightbulb, automobile, radio,
television, zippers/velcro, plastic/steel, various aspects of medicine
(antibiotics, x-rays, etc).

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pavel_lishin
Did they really come out of nowhere, though? I thought Edison worked for years
on the lightbulb.

The automobile evolved slowly from steam-powered vehicles - and trains could
be seen as precursors as well.

Television could have been foreseen once radio was invented.

And I think steel has been known in various forms for a long time - but it was
kept a state secret for most of its history.

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flashgordon
I think it depends on your definition of "out nowhere". In most business
circles Amazon is seen as a radical strategic innovation that obliterated the
traditional book business (almost). But if you lump it in the same category as
"selling things on the net", then it is pretty obvious.

No body saw Page rank's impact, but if you think it is obvious that reputation
plays a part in relevance, then again page rank is just an obvious thing that
built up over time.

The iPhone/Pod/Pad/XXX - if you say "simplicity" is the obvious killer in any
product then they well it should have been obvious...

and the list goes on...

I think in hindsight a lot of what made the strategic innovations seem so
obvious was well hindsight. It reminds me how MBAs are so great at explaining
what has happened but are terrible at providing a plan with 0 uncertainty!

