Why did it take so long?

I wonder if there will be any more 'why did it take so long?' moments in 2024. And for once I'm not talking specifically about generative AI, rather the shift in perspective needed to see where huge value can be created by something relatively simple.

Wheels on suitcases. First patented in 1945, the modern version patented in 1972. It took 15 years from then until it really started to take off, maybe helped by the addition of a retractable telescopic handle. (And maybe delayed by lingering male attachments to the demonstration of strength and masculinity.)

The 'why did it take so long?' feeling hit me again recently when I used a vacuum cleaner with an LED light built in for the first time. The light makes the dust stand out like nothing before! You don't miss any, and you get much more 'task satisfaction' having seen those easily-overlooked dust bunnies whisked away.

It's not as if people weren't trying to innovate. I'm sure suitcase marketers were competing fiercely for un-wheeled market share for many years, and I'm not sure how widespread LED lights on vacuum cleaners are now - even though the benefits are apparent.

It's sometimes too easy to accept things as they have always been, to overlook the obvious. 'What if we could just pull suitcases along behind us?' 'What if my vacuum cleaner showed me where the dust is?'

OK - I'm going to sneak generative AI in after all 😁 - I bet that it can help us find more of those opportunities, because it doesn't 'see' as we do, and it isn't blinkered by the status quo. It's actually really good at identifying user requirements, and non-obvious insights, when asked to do so.

So my bet for 2024 is that we will uncover some more of those 'why did it take so long?' moments. And that generative AI will have played a hand in uncovering it. Pretty soon every business will be an AI business, in the same way that gradually every business became a digital business over the last 20 years.

But this time, it's going to be much, much faster. Any idea what's going to change first?