In recent years the physics Nobel has more or less oscillated between recipients who did basic research that hasn't yet translated into consumer technology and and those who set the stage for applications and products. Last year's prize went for work on "broken symmetry" in subatomic physics. The 2007 prize went for the discovery that underlies how computer hard drives work. The year before that it went to people who worked on cosmic radiation -- and so forth.

This year technology grabbed back the trophy. It was shared by researchers who discovered the process that underlies today's digital cameras and who laid the ground for transmission of data through glass fibers. (What took the committee so long to annoint Charles Kao?)

At a time of faltering innovation and a terrible economy, we need more Charles Kaos, Willard Boyles and George Smiths, without whom today's economy might look even worse.