The concept of evolution over time is one we are all likely familiar with.
Consider, for example, how technology has evolved.
The first true smartphones appeared on the market at the beginning of this century, but these complicated devices didn’t spring all at once from the minds of ambitious engineers.
Rather, these engineers built on technology that had evolved and improved over many decades.
In the mid-1800s, telegraph technology first demonstrated that electricity could be used for long-distance communication.
That technology paved the way for the first telephones, which were basic and expensive but over many decades became more sophisticated, more common, and cheaper.
By the early 1980s, electronics companies had begun selling telephones that used radio technology to communicate wirelessly.
Over time these devices were made faster and smaller, and companies added features like cameras, microprocessors, and eventually internet access.
With these evolutionary transformations, the smartphone was born.