New Innovation Needs Three Phases
0. Almost every new innovation goes through three phases. When initially introduced CORRECT
00. into the market) the process of adoption is slow. The early models are that expensive THAT
41. and hard to use, and perhaps even unsafe. The economic impact is relatively very
42. small. The second phase is the explosive one, because where the innovation is rapidly
43. adopted by a large number of many people. It gets cheaper and easier to use and
44. becomes something familiar with. And then in the third stage, diffusion of the
45. innovation slows down again, as if it permeates out across the economy. During the
46. explosive phase, the whole new industries spring up to produce the new product or
47. innovation, and up to service it. For example, during the 1920s, there is dramatic
48. acceleration in auto production, from 1.9 million in 1920 to 4.5 million in 1929. This
49. boom was accompanied by all sorts of other essential activities necessary for an the
50. auto-based nation: Roads had to be built for the cars to run on; refineries and oil
51. wells, to provide the gasoline; and garages, to repair them. Historically speaking, the
52. same pattern is repeated again and again and with innovations. The construction of the electrical system required an enormous early investment in generation and distribution capacity.