Why technological change can accelerate suddenly

Why can technology advance so rapidly over a short period?

Long preparation and enabling developments can create a point at which many designers rapidly build on one another's work.

Rapid technological change does not appear from a single act of design. Research can accumulate until several enabling developments fall into place. Once that happens, later systems evolve quickly by building on the new foundation. The comparison with biological evolution emphasizes that the rate of visible change can vary greatly while the underlying process remains cumulative.