And that's just a start. This proliferation of paradigm shifts seemed as if it would continue forever at a constant or even increasing rate. But of course the pace of change for the better in the computer world had to slow, as it has in every new industry before it. Just because personal computers sprang seemingly from nowhere into the forefront of pop culture does not mean they are exempt from the same cycle as every previous miraculous technology, from flint arrowheads to blow-dryers. The dynamic at work is a simple one.
Inventors mostly refine previous ideas by building the proverbial better mousetrap.
But every once in a while, when the time and place are just right, they see the need for a mousetrap in the first place while everyone else just puts out some grain at night to keep the mice from climbing into their shoes. This second kind of invention doesn't simply improve on processes we are already familiar with, but creates entirely new ways of doing things or entirely new things to do. And because the invention is new, there are usually immediately obvious ways to make large improvements upon it that turbocharge its early development. The advancements that Apple created or adopted in the '80s were so important to the computer industry that it became axiomatic that some company, probably Apple, would periodically continue these great leaps forward. Given the quantum leap from typing lengthy, arcane commands to selecting sensible actions from a pull-down menu, anticipation was high as to what would come next.