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A lot of software is novelty-driven

Some of it is driven by available technology. It would have been very hard to have a great spell-check functionality on early home computers, like my 48k Apple II+, simply because of the hardware.

Did we ever need a v2 for the hammer, or drafting pencil?

Hammers did indeed evolve quite a bit from their stone age original form, though the general shape and principle have remained the same.

There is a modern claw hammer halfway up the left side in this illustration from 1514:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Melencolia_I_(Durero).jpg

Drafting pencils have been around from the late 1500s:

http://leadholder.com/main-history.html#leadholder_origins

It's arguable that truly modern ones didn't appear until the 20th century, however.




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