As part of photographer David Friedman’s series on contemporary inventors, he talks to Steven Sasson about his 1975 invention — the digital camera. Sasson’s explanation is a little clunky, but basically he had the foresight to know that when you’re introducing something so foreign and revolutionary, you need to ease people into it so as not to overwhelm and frighten them.

“I like to say to inventors that, be aware that your invention is in an environment where the rest of the world’s inventing along with you, so by the time the idea matures, it’ll be in a totally different world. I think that was the case with the digital camera.”

(via Swiss Miss)