I can't necessarily disagree with your statement about progress as I have no data but I do imagine that things move much quicker once you have someone's shoulders to stand on.
Sorry, it seems to me that if one has a patent that is so general in nature that it covers the outcome of a method without actually explaining how it works would in fact stifle innovation for that aspect of any related industries. I have a patent on steering moving objects, yes your steering method is completely different than mine but my patent covers everything about steering moving objects therefore you need to stop your work. Then how does one innovate? Hope not to get sued, hope the patent owner will license to you, or just wait out the patent? Or is my analogy not explaining my point?
Your experience with a feature phone versus a smartphone is just your own personal preference and experience. You say a feature phone is a far more pleasant experience as a phone, I say a smartphone is a far more pleasant as a phone and gives me more features to boot. I'm not saying that my opinion on the matter is worth more than your opinion but I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say.
Sorry, it seems to me that if one has a patent that is so general in nature that it covers the outcome of a method without actually explaining how it works would in fact stifle innovation for that aspect of any related industries. I have a patent on steering moving objects, yes your steering method is completely different than mine but my patent covers everything about steering moving objects therefore you need to stop your work. Then how does one innovate? Hope not to get sued, hope the patent owner will license to you, or just wait out the patent? Or is my analogy not explaining my point?
Your experience with a feature phone versus a smartphone is just your own personal preference and experience. You say a feature phone is a far more pleasant experience as a phone, I say a smartphone is a far more pleasant as a phone and gives me more features to boot. I'm not saying that my opinion on the matter is worth more than your opinion but I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say.