Friday 3 June 2016

My thoughts (1): Innovation


Lately I have been thinking about the use of the word innovation. Everyone is throwing it around like it is something that makes their product or thoughts more worth than it should be. Most of the time “innovation” only means “we made it cost effective to market it to average consumers” when people talk about technology. When reading a paper it often means we slapped around some other ideas, ignoring counter ideas, and formed our own opinion that is a breakthrough in science. I am not talking about quality research here before you start crying on your PhD. True innovation almost never reaches the general public or gets picked up decades after its invention when the cost are reduced or there is a use for the product. Most of the time we do not even think about an invention as innovating. Simply because it not reaches the popular discourse. Do you remember that special spoon to scrape out the last custard from a glass bottle. I was mind blown when my mother used it for the first time. True innovation in my opinion.


To be honest it has become the most insignificant word of the decade, just like the word authentic, that is often misused. Businesses, academics and researches use it to highlight a positive change, but what they only do is glorifying their own work. What change? What innovation? More sales? More papers that are published? Does it help you to gain something for yourself or does it help society? "Innovation" has become a marketing term, but should be used for real and new ideas.

"My thoughts" posts are just a rambling of words and often written in a short period of time without any research. 

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