Distributing the Future to a few people is a good thing, but with over 300,000,000 people in the U.S. and 8,000,000,000 in the world, a few more people having the Future doesn’t make it much more evenly distributed.
That’s where Leverage comes in. Don’t try to distribute the Future all by yourself. Help other people help other people distribute the Future.
Here’s what ChatGPT has to say on the subject:
A great example … is the spread of the personal computer (PC):
From ChatGPT query “[an example] where the inventor, or small initial group, helped spread the technology to another bigger group, and then that group spread it further, etc.”
The Inventors’ Stage: In the 1970s, the personal computer was a niche invention primarily driven by pioneers like Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs with the Apple I and II… These inventors initially targeted hobbyists and enthusiasts…
The Early Adopters’ Stage: These hobbyists and enthusiasts formed the second group, showcasing PCs at conventions, within tech clubs, and to their peers. This group evangelized…to a slightly broader audience, including academics, small businesses, and forward-thinking professionals.
The Corporate and Mass Market Stage: Companies like IBM entered the market… This move legitimized the technology for businesses and larger institutions… companies like Microsoft made operating systems and applications… that appealed to a broader audience…
The Viral Expansion Stage: As PCs became affordable and their utility evident, mass-market consumers began purchasing them for personal use. Schools adopted them for education, creating a younger generation familiar with computers who, in turn, helped drive further adoption.
This layered approach—starting with a small group of inventors, then spreading through enthusiasts and early adopters, and finally to the broader population—demonstrates how an invention can gain exponential traction by leveraging multiple waves of influence. [italics added]
Some personal examples:
- The aforementioned Apple I and II put Apple on the map for Alan, who was ultimately lucky enough to be able to help the Apple networking team help the Macintosh team help Apple even more widely distribute the Future of computing.*
- The Alan & Priscilla Oppenheimer Foundation was able to help the Personal Genome Project help scientific advisors help Barack Obama (and his team) create what became the NIH All of Us program, which is now widely distributing the Future of personalized health and genomics.
- Most of Priscilla’s career has been teaching the Future to others, in both industry and academia, who have then gone on to teach it to others. Much more on that to come.
*A couple personal notes: Alan bought Apple stock in 1981 but alas sold it in 1986. In addition to Apple, in 1983 Alan interviewed for jobs at Microsoft and Xerox PARC (which invented much of the Future Apple would go on to distribute).