obsolescence
/ˌɑbsəˈlɛsəns/The process by which a product stops being useful because newer, better versions have taken its place.
Example: Planned obsolescence keeps customers buying a new phone every year.
C222 words · Proficient
Discoveries & Inventions vocabulary — C2
Invention vocabulary such as paradigm shift, serendipity and path dependence, plus kludge, lock-in and dual use. Words for discussing invention from a distance.
22 questions
Words in this set
22pioneering
/ˌpaɪəˈnɪrɪŋ/Being the very first to develop a method, opening a path that others later follow.
Example:
Her pioneering work on batteries changed the industry completely.
serendipity
/ˌsɛrənˈdɪpɪti/The luck of finding something valuable by chance while you were looking for something else.
Example:
Penicillin came from serendipity, not from a carefully planned experiment.
paradigm shift
A fundamental change in the basic ideas or methods used in a particular field.
Example:
The internet caused a paradigm shift in how people communicate.
incremental
/ˌɪnkrəˈmɛntəl/Happening in small steps or stages, rather than in one big change.
Example:
The improvements were incremental, but added up over years.
proof of concept
An early demonstration that shows an idea or method is possible before it is fully developed.
Example:
The small prototype served as a proof of concept for investors.
ingenuity
/ˌɪndʒəˈnuəˌti/Cleverness and originality in solving problems or inventing things.
Example:
The rescue plan showed remarkable ingenuity.
forerunner
/ˈfɔˌrʌnər/An early form of something that later developed into a more advanced version.
Example:
The telegraph was a forerunner of modern instant messaging.
hindsight
/ˈhaɪndˌsaɪt/Understanding of a situation only after it has happened, that you did not have at the time.
Example:
In hindsight, the invention seems obvious, but nobody had thought of it before.
trailblazing
Doing something completely new that others later follow, especially in a particular field.
Example:
Her trailblazing research opened up an entirely new field of medicine.
skunkworks
A small team allowed to work outside the usual rules.
Example:
The whole product came out of a skunkworks of four people.
kludge
A clumsy solution that works despite being badly made.
Example:
The fix was a kludge and it has held for eleven years.
teleology
/ˈtiliˌɔləˌdʒi/The idea that things develop towards a purpose.
Example:
Histories of invention slip into teleology almost by default.
lock-in
The state of being unable to switch away from a technology.
Example:
Format lock-in cost the archive more than the hardware did.
leapfrog
/ˈlipˌfrɔɡ/To skip a stage of development entirely.
Example:
Some countries leapfrog landlines straight to mobile networks.
path dependence
The way an early choice constrains everything after it.
Example:
Keyboard layout is the standard example of path dependence.
tinkering
/ˈtɪŋkərɪŋ/Making small changes to something to try to improve it.
Example:
Years of tinkering produced what one redesign would have.
test rig
A structure built specially to test a component.
Example:
The test rig cost more than the part it was built to break.
provisional patent
An early filing that reserves a place before the full application.
Example:
A provisional patent buys twelve months and very little else.
technology transfer
The moving of a discovery from research into industry.
Example:
Technology transfer is where most university inventions quietly die.
dual use
Able to be used for both peaceful and harmful purposes.
Example:
Almost every dual use technology was invented for the peaceful half.
frugal innovation
Designing something useful with very few resources.
Example:
Frugal innovation produced a incubator built from car parts.
