Who first thought of putting wheels on suitcases and why did this seemingly obvious idea not take off until the 1990s? In the final episode of our series on how innovation works, we explore how the adoption of an idea can be hampered by social attitudes and prejudices. In the case of the wheeled suitcase, it wasn’t a change in technology that made the difference—instead, the crucial change took place inside people’s heads. Tom Standage hosts.
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Gamechangers: Reinventing the wheel

It might start with a lightbulb moment or a sudden flash of insight—but having an idea and making a success of it are very different things. It’s the gap between invention and innovation. In these six episodes, you’ll find out about the people and stories behind game-changing ideas and technology. Sign up for Economist Podcasts+ at www.economist.com/podcastsplus If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Paying for things using your phone has become far more widespread during the pandemic. But Western consumers are playing catch-up. Mobile payments have been widespread for more than a decade in Africa, and in particular in Kenya, where the world’s first successful mobile-money system, called M-PESA, was launched in 2007. Why did it take off in Kenya first, how did users shape the development of the product—and what does this story reveal about innovation? Tom Standage hosts
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Gamechangers: Mobile money

The notion of shipping things in standardised boxes seems obvious in retrospect, so why did shipping containers take so long to emerge? Host Tom Standage finds out how difficult it was for this simple idea to take off. He talks to shipping experts and economists about the container’s far-reaching impact on the global economy—creating both winners and losers.
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Gamechangers: Thinking inside the box

Deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence, powers voice assistants, facial recognition, music recommendations and underpins pioneering scientific research on how proteins fold. But all this was made possible by a breakthrough in a completely different field: video games. Powerful graphics chips (GPUs), developed to make video games more realistic, turned out to be ideal for speeding up the mathematical calculations used in deep learning. Host Tom Standage finds out how gaming transformed AI and meets the researchers who persevered when the chips were down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gamechangers: More than just a game

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is the molecule that forms the basis of the coronavirus vaccines made by Moderna and by Pfizer-BioNTech. Although the vaccines went from lab to jab in just a few months, the idea of using mRNA as a therapy has been around for decades. The pioneers of this powerful technology reveal its unexpected path, the obstacles that had to be overcome along the way and its future potential. Tom Standage hosts.   Subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions: www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gamechangers: Reinventing the wheel

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