Otherwise, your competitor will gain an edge, producing more than you for the same investment. It pushes researchers to develop ever more powerful technologies. Gradually smaller amounts of materials and effort will accomplish more and more useful functions. Diminishing effort means in the first place diminishing the time needed to get the desired result. You can use the time gained to produce more of the same, to tackle different problems, or simply to relax.
Technological innovation leads directly to a speeding up of existing processes.
With improved technology, houses will be built, motorcars will be assembled, food will be produced, and diseases will be cured in less time than it used to take. This increased speed is most clear in travel and transportation. The typical speed was a few miles per hour. This changed radically with the introduction of the steam engine, first in ships, then in locomotives and primitive automobiles. These first motorized vehicles reached tens of miles per hour.