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Electric motor, demonstrated about 1880, saw no real value until after the 1900s. Transistor in 1948 finally started making its real value apparent in the mid 1960s. Laser was a wonderful invention that has no real purpose until well after 20 years later. Newton's calculus and others of his time (in and after 1600s) did not have appreciable value until the 20th century.
Some inventions result in innovation almost immediate - same decade -especially when it is a solution to an existing problem. Others can have no apparent value for generation or even centuries. Especially when it is a solution looking for a problem to solve.
In the 1800s, experimenters discovered a charge inside a glass jar could be discharged by applying ultraviolet light. A solution to a late 1960s problem - eraseable computer memory chip or EPROM.
Einstein's equations were revealed 100 years ago. Resulting jobs, wealth, economic power, industries, markets, and innovations are only just beginning to exist.
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