Reply to Dew's (2007) commentary: “Pre-adaptation, exaptation and technology speciation: a comment on Cattani (2006)”

This article responds to the critique by Nicholas Dew (2007) on an earlier article by Cattani (2006) which suggested that Cattani's use of the term “pre-adaptation” should be replaced by an alternative term “exaptation.” The article responds to that suggestion and attempts to redirect discussion toward the evolutionary significance of pre-adaptation within the context of technology, a task central to any evolutionary theory of technological change. Copyright 2008 , Oxford University Press.