# Steven Johnson: How play leads to great inventions

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Well, not always. Steven Johnson shows us how some of the most transformative ideas and technologies, like the computer, didn't emerge out of necessity at all but instead from the strange delight of play. Share this captivating, illustrated exploration of the history of invention. Turns out, you'll find the future wherever people are having the most fun.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2016
- Runtime: 7 min
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Animation, Education, Science, History, Adventure
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/StevenJohnson_2016V)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Kids profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/StevenJohnson_2016V?play=1)