The original inventor(s) often doesn't make much money, at least not proportional to the power of the idea. It's usually somebody who comes along and implements it better who gets rich. Truly innovative things often take tinkering to become practical.
Examples: TV, jets, VCR, desktop computer (existed in 60's), GUI, personal digital assistant ("smart phone"), neural nets.
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The original inventor(s) often doesn't make much money, at least not proportional to the power of the idea. It's usually somebody who comes along and implements it better who gets rich. Truly innovative things often take tinkering to become practical.
Examples: TV, jets, VCR, desktop computer (existed in 60's), GUI, personal digital assistant ("smart phone"), neural nets.
It's very seldom that the original inventor makes a lot of money--instead it's the businessman/entrepreneur who pushes the inventor's invention.