Harry Veeder wrote:
"This is really a spectacular innovation," said Maria Van der Hoeven, the minister of economic affairs, at the unveiling in Emmeloord on Monday.
We are at a low ebb when a government minister thinks that a trivial, incremental improvement to existing technology is a "spectacular innovation." In the past, people said that when Roentgen discovered the x-ray or Marconi transmitted by radio across the Atlantic. Now all it takes is some robot that any of a thousand industrial corporations could come up with.
Modern people are so used to stasis, they have forgotten what innovation and change really mean. People say we are living in a time of rapid change, but I agreed with Chris Tinsley, who said nothing important has been invented since 1950.
- Jed
