# Breakthroughs Delayed

- Show: [Oxide and Friends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends)
- Published: 2022-02-15
- Length: 1h 08m
- Episode: 5
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/1e7afff1

## Summary

Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal of Oxide Computer Company discuss the concept of 'breakthroughs delayed' using Steven Johnson's book Extra Life as a framework. They analyze historical examples like pasteurization, safety glass, and the three-point seat belt, arguing that some innovations were delayed not by technical impossibility but by a lack of societal readiness or infrastructure. The conversation extends to computing, debating whether technologies like DTrace, Docker, and Wikipedia could have been invented earlier, concluding that while the underlying components existed, the specific user experience and ecosystem required to make them mainstream were missing at the time.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=0) Introduction: Twitter Spaces and Recording Setup
- [0:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=55) Steven Johnson's Extra Life and Delayed Innovations
- [6:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=393) Historical Examples: Pasteurization, Seat Belts, and Safety Glass
- [16:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=1003) Computing Breakthroughs: DTrace, CTF, and Docker
- [35:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=2107) Hardware Virtualization and The Great Stirrup Controversy
- [42:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=2551) Product Market Fit: The Segway and SoftBank/Arm Deal
- [48:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=2894) Wikipedia, Dinner Parties, and Fact-Checking
- [57:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=3443) Wordle, Family Trolling, and Silicon Valley Cameo
- [1:07:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed#t=4025) The Antikythera Mechanism and Conclusion

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Oxide Computer Company (company)
- Steven Johnson (other)
- Extra Life (other)
- DTrace (tool)
- CTF (tool)
- Docker (tool)
- Honeywell H200 (other)
- Segway (product)
- SoftBank (company)
- Arm (company)
- Wikipedia (other)
- Silicon Valley (other)
- Antikythera mechanism (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#056 - Not too early, not too late - how to get the timing right for your innovation, with your host Balint Horvath, Switzerland](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-06-06-056-not-too-early-not-too-late-how-to-get-the-timing-right-for-your-innovation-w) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [Live From HIBT Summit: Payal Kadakia, Tristan Walker, and Perry Chen on Innovation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-07-22-live-from-hibt-summit-payal-kadakia-tristan-walker-and-perry-chen-on-innovation) (How I Built This)
- [Ep. 40 - Influential Media](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2025-06-05-ep-40-influential-media) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [Episode 192: Different or better with Evan & Katelyn](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2018-11-23-episode-192-different-or-better-with-evan-katelyn) (Making It)
- [Live From The HIBT Summit: Stewart Butterfield](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-30-live-from-the-hibt-summit-stewart-butterfield) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Oxide and Friends.