talking innovation
politics
Applied vs Theoretical Innovation
Jun 29th
Recently, I got to thinking that there are really are two kinds of innovation, and these two types of innovation were very apparent in the kind of programs I would run for companies. Borrowing a term from physics, I like to call these two types of innovation “theoretical” and “applied” just like theoretical and applied physics.
Theoretical innovation is something you simply just cannot do today. There are factors which keep you from actually implementing the envisioned product or service right now. These can be something as simple as the right kind of technology, say size of storage space or wireless bandwidth or as complex as the right geo-political infrastructures. A good example of this is streaming HD virtual reality to wireless phones. Sure, it can be done: but the network is simply not up to the task of allowing it to happen.
Tech factors, strangely enough, are not usually the ones holding back the innovation: it’s more likely the human factor, factions within companies taking credit or laying blame, cultural and political reasons etc. However, the biggest indicator of something being “theoretical innovation” in my view is ability to monetize. If there is no way to make any money off it, even if all barriers were lowered, then it remains in that realm since most no one, save some independently wealthy, or governments, will step up to take it on. It’s this type of innovation which is ideally suited to go into a patent application process.
Applied Innovation, on the other hand, is leading edge work that not only pushes the envelope, it also has a clear path to monetization. If you ask me, this is pretty easy to come up with: is it a product or service that I would use and pay for? Applied innovation takes what is out there today, and rebuilds or mashes it up to create something new, useful and valuable. Applied innovation is the kind of thing that can be taken from idea to launch in days or weeks with a few guys in a garage. And its applied innovation which is probably what most people think about, at least in the business world, as innovation.
Thats not to say that theoretical innovation doesn’t have its place, and many ideas began in the theoretical innovation space, but as these ideas have much longer paths, or in some cases no path to monetization at all, now may not be the best time to pursue theoretical innovation. In boom times, with the wind at our backs, of course, but today, in this climate, a focus on applied innovation is essential.
Hacked again!
Jun 29th
Turkish hackers this time. No problem, gave me an excuse to create a whole new site design, with WordPress all of the posts were in the database so nothing was lost, and I’m loving this new design. BTW, check out this cool example of tweebus on the news stream page.
Agora: A New Film in Defense of Reason – Ayn Rand Admirers at The Atlasphere
Jun 14th
A serious, intelligent film that stands up for science and freedom of thought and against the forces of mysticism and ignorance? And it's now in theaters? Believe it!
via Agora: A New Film in Defense of Reason – Ayn Rand Admirers at The Atlasphere.
Apple Bans ‘Sexy Apps’
Feb 19th
Something I’ve said for a while: Steve Jobs is as much a tyrant as Barack Obama or George Bush. What he says goes: free speech suffers. And yes, sexy apps and porn ARE free speech, no matter how much you may not like them!
Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks
Feb 4th
“The critical question is: At what level will the American public be comfortable with Google sharing information with NSA?” said Ellen McCarthy, president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, an organization of current and former intelligence and national security officials that seeks ways to foster greater sharing of information between government and industry.
Free Speech and Google or China? A Toss Up
Jan 19th
So in terms of actually killing and imprisoning people, China does come out on top. If that’s the scale you use. However, when you are talking about free speech, I’d say that both China and Google have a lot of ‘splaining to do.
Google is so far deep into the pockets of this administration, that they have been shown to censor or degrade in the search results any anti-Obama discussion or videos posted to YouTube (one of their companies). Plus even though their motto is “Don’t Be Evil”, they still have a database tracking your every move. And when their CEO comes out and actually says “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”
So you are telling me that privacy is over in the Google Era?
—
Google Inc. is enjoying an avalanche of good will because of its threat to leave China over e-mail hacking attacks against dissidents.
Does the Internet giant deserve the praise?
via Google Search Engine’s Future in China Is Unclear – NYTimes.com.
Where is the innovation?
Jul 10th
Now many people who watch/listen to my shows understand my philosophy and political leanings. i’m willing to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt on some things – when he mentioned that he was going to do a number of things to foster innovation, such as hold scientific summits in the White House etc, I thought, wow thats cool – maybe finally someone in the White House who understands that its innovation that is the engine of our economy – more than anything. Free markets are the foundation of a true robust economy, but innovation is the driver. The question is now however, why are we throwing billions into propping up industries that are dying due to lack of demand and mis-management, when we coudl be letting those industries die and supporting new ones that grow from the death of the old ones?
When a company goes under, the employees of that company are freed up to do mayn things. Some will go onto the unemployment rolls, some will move into other jobs at other companies, and some will strike out on their own. The people do not cease to exist, they simply do something different. For some, the job has locked them into a pattern which was comfortable, too comfortable to escape. For some, the job loss would unleash the innovation and creativity in their brains, and they could conceivably go off and create the next great product or service. And its those innovators that need to be supported, not the old-line firms which are locking up this creativity.
So I not only ask Obama not to prop up dying industries in order to save us tax money, I also ask Obama to let those people who are innovators in those companies free to innovate, and to support their innovations. Both will cost too much, one looks to the past and one looks to the future, and I think we all know which direction we should be looking in.
independence day
Jul 4th
wheres is the future of independence day? well, when this country was founded, things were very very different, but the founding principles of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” where the ultimate statement of vision of humanity as being ultimately responsible for its own happiness. The individual, not the state, would determine the course of that individuals life.
My, how times have changed. There is more and more government intervention into our lives. We are basically living under the same, or an even more tyrannical regime than the one we left. And the future of freedom looks bleak: less and lees freedom to speak, and less and less freedom to live ones life as the founders intended it.
Is this a good future or a bad future? On the one hand, people in general have never “felt” more free, but that freedom is a chimera, its not bestowed naturally, but by government. And government can decide to take that freedom away any time it wants. We are now governed not by “the people” but a government. And I don’t see that getting better.
One can argue that the core of humanity, the greed that drives evolution, is an outdated concept. I say it is the core of what makes us great. We need to put systems in place that feed the greed. Systems which assume egalitarianism always always fail.
So with that – we turn to the future. Will Independence Day go away? No, but it will lose its meaning. We need to continue to remind ourselves of why we fought that distant war, and what it really all means. We need to work to keep the system from turning into what we fought against.
Why you ask? What does this have to do with innovation and the future? Plenty. Innovation THRIVES under freedom and is choked under tyranny. Obama promised a new freedom for innovation, for science, for technology, but then turns around and props up old dying industries. Where is the freedom for innovation, Mr. President? Where is the stimulus money for small, innovative startups to invent the next wave of consumer products in order to help jumpstart the economy. Where is the INNOVATION STIMULUS?
Innovation is stimulated by robust free speech and free markets. The less free our speech is and the less free our markets are, the less innovative we will be. I say: unleash the free market, unleash innovation, and things will turn around sooner and opposed to later.