The messianic nature of innovation

To bring new technologies to the market, innovators must be able to convince both investors and consumers of the advantages of their forthcoming innovation and create expectations for improvements over the current situation. Innovation is therefore preceded by an annunciation that prophesies the fut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Time & Society 2019-05, Vol.28 (2), p.859-878
Main Author: Pelaez, Victor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Consumers
Innovations
Technology adoption
Urgency
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Summary:To bring new technologies to the market, innovators must be able to convince both investors and consumers of the advantages of their forthcoming innovation and create expectations for improvements over the current situation. Innovation is therefore preceded by an annunciation that prophesies the future as time that goes by (chronos). At the same time, innovation arises as an opportunity, to be seized at the precise moment of its annunciation (kairos). This paper proposes to discuss the messianic nature of innovation, from two different perspectives: that of the promise proclaimed to create expectations and that of the timeless urgency, which ignores the time of conflicts and uncertainties inherent to the adoption of new technologies.
ISSN:0961-463X
1461-7463
DOI:10.1177/0961463X17716549