Taking a closer look at the progression of these breakthrough technologies reveals that there is not always a clear line between being a successful breakthrough and a true flop. There are many technologies that may not have been significantly successful alone, but have since been reinterpreted or used as a foundation for other breakthrough technologies ( Natural Language Processing, 2001). There are also many that may not have reached their potential as expected, but may be lying dormant and still have an opportunity for enormous impact in the future ( Brain Machine Interfaces, 2001). Some technologies are indeed very impactful, but only for a relatively short lifespan ( Facebook’s Timeline, 2012). All these types of nuance are important to illuminate.