  A new simple model of diffusion of innovations in a social network with
upgrading costs is introduced. Agents are characterized by a single real
variable, their technological level. According to local information agents
decide whether to upgrade their level or not balancing their possible benefit
with the upgrading cost. A critical point where technological avalanches
display a power-law behavior is also found. This critical point is
characterized by a macroscopic observable that turns out to optimize
technological growth in the stationary state. Analytical results supporting our
findings are found for the globally coupled case.

Statistical Mechanics