The Wall Street Journal has announced the winners of its 2004 Technology Innovation Awards. In the Overall category, the winners, selected by an independent panel of judges, were as follows:
GOLD WINNER:That's two of the top three from tiny Israel, out of all the countries in the world. Winners and runners-up in other categories included Portugal, Finland, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Japan.
Sun Microsystems Laboratories (U.S.) — New method for chips to transmit data inside a computer up to 100 times faster than today's top speed.
SILVER WINNER:
Given Imaging Ltd. (Israel) — Pill-shaped video camera screens the esophagus for disorders.
BRONZE WINNER:
InSightec Image Guided Treatment Ltd. (Israel) — Device destroys tumors using ultrasound waves together with magnetic resonance imaging.
Notably absent were the Arab states. Technological breakthroughs, it would seem, are not achieved through religious indoctrination, rampant illiteracy, and calls for jihad.
FOLLOW-UP:
Aparently the awards results were announced back in November, 2004, so this is not exactly a breaking story.
2 comments:
"Notably absent were the Arab states. Technological breakthroughs, it would seem, are not achieved through religious indoctrination, rampant illiteracy, and calls for jihad."
As C. Montgomery Burns would say, "EGGS-ACTLY!" Too bad the people with the power to advance the cause of modernity would rather roll back our achievements two millennia.
Posted by langtry
You're forgetting the impetus on Israel to perform. When you're surrounded by millions of people who want you dead, and your only means of defense is training an extremely strong military and equipping it with the best possible technology, you've got two inspirations: 1)Design as much of that technology as you can so you don't have to pay ridiculous prices to foreign governments who don't really want to be associate with you (after all, only the US is on your side, apparently)
and B) Create a high-profit (say, technology?) industry that does not require a lot of natural resources (aside from human capital) that will bring in enough finances so that you can buy the stuff you can't build yourself.
So, in a way, the "religious indoctrination, rampant illiteracy, and calls for jihad" are actually intricately involved in the technological success of Israel, if not the only (or even proximate) cause.
Posted by Brian
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