Why was the steam engine slow to be accepted by industries?

  • James Watt improved the steam engine and patented the new engine. His industrialist friend, Mathew Boulton manufactured the new model.
  • But for years he could find no buyers.
  • Steam engines were used in cotton and wool industries, mining, canal and iron works.
  • Steam engines were not used in any of the other industries till much later in the century.
  • So, even the most powerful new technology that enhanced the productivity of labour manifold was slow to be accepted by industrialists.