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For far too long I have bored associates with the theory that once a seminal hardware technology materialises in a vanguard and expensive application, another 10 years tend to elapse before the method becomes affordable and popular for the 'masses'.

Several instances of the cycle can be cited: the first laser imagesetter surfaced as the Monotype Lasercomp in 1976 and the broad concept was gradually scaled down for common usage, starting with the Linotronic 300 machine in 1984. Similarly the earliest digital CRT phototypesetter was announced as the Hell Digiset in 1965, but widespread acceptance of the technical concept had to wait until 1978 for the Linotron 202 to emerge. Other examples could be summoned, but I will spare the reader any further tedium.

I have previously mused on the topic of the time span that might separate the development of a primary electronic component or technique and the initial application of the invention to pre-press equipment.

My preliminary and cursory research suggests a period of some 15 to 20 years. Again the laser will serve as an example. Theodore Maiman is generally credited with first generating a laser beam at the Hughes Laboratory in 1960 and the original laser imagesetter did not take shape until some 16 years later.

Another juxtaposition involves the charge-coupled device (CCD) that was developed by W S Boyle and G E Smith in 1970. Some 16 years passed before the introductory CCD image scanner surfaced as the Scitex Smart in 1986. It is a notion requiring more probing and validation, but the hypothesis does appear to be seductive.

Software development, however, seems to have its own rhythm – usually delayed and subject to constant revision.