Notwithstanding that this was a major accomplishment for Scotland’s Touch Bionics which makes the hand, we had quite limited expectations for media pick-up of our release. In our experience, most media tend to pay scant attention to awards programs and lists put out by their competitors.

Our expectations were spot on in North America; most everyone ignored the release when we issued it Wednesday. When it hit the wires the other side of the pond Thursday morning, however, Danny’s phone started ringing off the hook. Whether it was the cachet of the global TIME brand or the fact that U.K. companies are seldom recognised in this way, the upshot was that everyone wanted a piece of the story. As Danny wrote, we’re still not entirely sure why this happened but we’re always happy to see it.