Slow on the uptake

I understand that certain inventions take time to develop.

Electricity
Indoor plumbing (the single greatest invention of all time)
Nuclear power
Electric pants

But I can’t help but wonder why others took so long to come about?

For example, wheels weren’t added to luggage until 1989. Why did it take so long for someone to think of this?

And what about the collapsible and removable seats in mini-vans? In today’s vehicles, these seats can be removed with relative ease, but less than two decades ago, removing a seat required screwdrivers, a set of Allen wrenches, and 30 minutes of blood, sweat and tears.

There haven’t been any advances in seat technology in that time. Automobile manufacturers simply decided to make the consumer happy. By why did it take so damn long?

The good news is that there is hope for would-be inventors. If it took human beings two millennia to stick wheels on a suitcase, imagine what simple yet ubiquitous ideas await discovery.

Like liquid hot dogs.  Drinkable through a straw but just as tasty.