Stories, moments, people and ideas of interest from within the worlds of innovation and design, spotted and written about by Helen Walters, writer and researcher at Doblin, a member of Monitor Group. Attitude, errors and opinions all the writer's own.
Ask me anything
February 22, 2012
"Everyone I spoke with who was familiar with the project repeatedly said that Google was not thinking about potential business models with the new glasses. Instead, they said, Google sees the project as an experiment that anyone will be able to join. If consumers take to the glasses when they are released later this year, then Google will explore possible revenue streams."
— Amidst all the excitement around Google’s potential introduction of “wearable computing”, or glasses that can stream real-time information, I was struck by this comment in New York Times reporter, Nick Bilton’s article, Google To Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses By Year’s End. Given Google’s previous inability to figure out revenue streams for its ideas, this seems like a risky if somewhat predictable strategy. Business model design is just as difficult as inventing stuff, and equally important.
"The smallest features of modern life are stealth inventions. Their ingenuity is quiet. Their advantages are imperceptible. But they are inventions."
— The Atlantic writer, Derek Thompson seems on a mission to wrest the meme of “tweaking” from the hands of Malcolm Gladwell, as he outlines the genesis of useful tweaks to existing products in this lovely story, The Amazing History and the Strange Invention of the Bendy Straw. He rightly points out that the bendy straw’s development by no means represents “the pinnacle of modern innovation” and that this is more a story of invention. But stories like this are marvelous and useful, and kudos to the magazine for running it.
"If it was unprecedented, I’d be pretty sure we were doing something wrong."
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This weekend saw Thrilling Wonder Stories 3 take place in both London and New York. I went along to the Saturday session at Studio-X in Manhattan, and was thrilled by presentations from the likes of Washington Post writer, Marc Kaufman, talking about life on Mars, and Morris Benjaminson discussing the whys and wherefores of In Vitro Meat, or as he’d like you to call it, “Muscle Protein Production System.” (Blech.) The above quote came courtesy of materials science professor, Debbie Chachra, who was describing how she conducted research into the mysterious structure of a cellophane-like material made by bees to protect their eggs. After exhaustive research, it turned out to be protein, not polyester, and not so mysterious after all.
But her point, that if something seems original then you likely haven’t done enough research, was something of a theme of the day. Author James Fletcher told entertaining stories of researching his book, Fixing the Sky, on the topic of the history and technology of weather control. He was also vehement about the fact that while we often think ideas are unprecedented, they really are no such thing. “These are not new ideas,” he said, of concepts such as hurling sulphates into the atmosphere or aiming toxic clouds at enemies. “This situation is precedented.” The moral of the story: read more; think more; learn more. All in all, not a bad lesson for a snowy Saturday afternoon.
Great piece from science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in the World Policy Journal. Innovation Starvation is a lyrical lament to the loss of imagination that Stephenson feels has accompanied so many of the technological developments in recent years. He writes:
Most people who work in corporations or academia have witnessed something like the following: A number of engineers are sitting together in a room, bouncing ideas off each other. Out of the discussion emerges a new concept that seems promising. Then some laptop-wielding person in the corner, having performed a quick Google search, announces that this “new” idea is, in fact, an old one—or at least vaguely similar—and has already been tried. Either it failed, or it succeeded. If it failed, then no manager who wants to keep his or her job will approve spending money trying to revive it. If it succeeded, then it’s patented and entry to the market is presumed to be unattainable, since the first people who thought of it will have “first-mover advantage” and will have created “barriers to entry.” The number of seemingly promising ideas that have been crushed in this way must number in the millions.
I’d write this off as beautifully written, thought-provoking overkill were it not for the fact that only last weekend, I ruined a perfectly good conversation by resorting to Google and an Internet search to resolve a question that came up. By now, this is pretty much standard practice for the smartphone owner. But the thing is, it would have sparked a lot more imagination and doubtless been a funnier, more memorable and interesting (though perhaps rather less accurate) discussion had we all continued just to make up answers to the question at hand. Surely the real challenge is to find a time and a place for both free-spirited invention and buttoned down application. Still, plenty of food for thought about the state of the innovation world we live in, while I also love the fact that according to his bio, Stephenson is committed to seeing that “BSGD” (“Big Stuff Gets Done”).
I haven’t had a chance to dig into Steven Johnson’s latest book yet, and I’m honestly a little leery of the title’s conflation of invention with innovation, but Johnson does write beautifully, and this short teaser video provides a lyrical overview of where we are now, innovation wise. ”It’s not enough for us to dig in and work harder. We need to encourage surprise and serendipity.”
I’m certainly glad to see him telling a tale that extends beyond the borders of the United States (I’m still trying to work out what to make of Fast Company’s recent, baffling U.S.-based myopia.) And I love the conclusion to the video: “we need to play each others’ instruments.” (You’ll need to watch for that to make sense.)
Erez Lieberman Aiden is the subject of a fascinating story in Nature. The molecular biologist and applied mathematician is a prolific polymath who happens to do some work at Google, mainly in the field of “digital humanities,” that is, on the Google Books project (which, it should be noted but is not mentioned in the piece, hit a roadblock in March.) Lieberman Aiden isn’t himself concerned with policy or bureaucracy; his role is as inventor and experimenter. As well as developing the Books Ngram Viewer for Google, he has also invented a groundbreaking protocol related to DNA, is CEO of iShoe, “a company that is testing sensor-stuffed shoe inserts to help the elderly with their balance”. Oh, and he co-founded Bears Without Borders, an organization that sends stuffed animals to children in the developing world.
I loved the detail of Lieberman Aiden staying away from his computer during the Sabbath, less for religious reasons, more to enforce a break. “Doing so forces him to detach, clear his mind and go for walks in the park with his wife and son,” notes writer Eric Hand, who adds: ”And yet the boundary between work and play—just like that between the sciences and the humanities—is not one that Lieberman Aiden respects. That might just be what makes him successful.”
"Invention is in our DNA and technology is the fundamental tool we wield to evolve and improve every aspect of the experience we provide our customers. We still have a lot to learn, and I expect and hope we’ll continue to have so much fun learning it. I take great pride in being part of this team. As always, I attach a copy of our original 1997 letter. Our approach remains the same, and it’s still Day 1."
— Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders is a paean to the value of R&D, as well as the Amazon chief’s oblique reassurance not to worry about this quarter’s less than stellar results. The original letter of intent he refers to is also well worth a read, as is his explanation of the research structure within Amazon’s by-now-vast organization. “Technology infuses all of our teams, all of our processes, our decision-making, and our approach to innovation in each of our businesses,” he writes. “It is deeply integrated into everything we do.” Not for Bezos the silos often found in innovation. Also note his still-hungry sign-off. “It’s still Day 1.” An amazing attitude all would do well to foster.
