There's a new man in town: the paradigm shift in optical technology

The contribution gives a short introduction into the enabling character of modern optical technology and tries to trace the paradigm shift from bulbs to opto-electronics and photonics in quantitative terms using science and technology indicators. As an example of the economic potential of the new optical technology, the impact on foreign trade is investigated and discussed. As it turns out, there seem to be different strategies of nations concerning adoption of modern optical technology. Most of the countries considered follow the strategy to start from the traditional strength in their homebase and differentiate from there to the prosperous new product lines. But also newcomers are observed which do not follow this traditional path. Overall, the contribution adds evidence to the notion that the evolution in changing areas of technology is nation-specific. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.