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Where would our technology industries be without the early adopters?

Our technology industries thrive on those people and companies who are willing to pay high prices for the latest in entertainment technology or business solutions. Personally, I don’t have the time to beta test new technologies, either as public betas or as newly released products, so I am very happy that the early adopters are so eager and ready to do so.

Because it interests me and because it is part of my job to identify where we are headed, I stay up on the latest technology; but, when it comes to parting with my hard-earned cash, there has to be a rational reason to do so.

Case in point, digital television. Starting in 2009, all television signals will be digital, so there is this big push in the marketplace to sell people hi-definition digital-capable televisions. At the same time there is a standards war underway in the Digital Video Disc marketplace between Sony and Toshiba for control of the next generation movie distribution platform. Sony has the lead, and whoever is ahead in the market share race after this winter holiday selling season, will be the victor (this is likely to be Sony).

So, my television is going to be obsolete soon, along with my DVD player. My innovation side is happy about this, while the rational side of me is going to hold out until the very last moment in order to get more for less. I’ll be very interested to see what I can get in two years for how little. I just hope that some steadfast entrepreneurs figure out a profitable way to gather a significant portion of the old tube televisions being replaced and ship them to other countries instead of the landfill.

What do you think? Have you already justified the purchase of a digital television to yourself (or significant other) or do you refuse to throw out a perfectly good television?

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Came across an article on a BusinessWeek blog talking about the One Laptop Per Child project announcing their plan to offer a line of accessories.

The article talks about a $10 DVD Player and a $100 Projector, and how they might be a boon to entrepreneurs in developing countries when paired with the low cost XO laptop.

Innovation at the bottom may lift some enterprising individuals up to a higher standard living in developing countries, but things like a $100 projector could be a boon for entrepreneurs in this country too. Many enterprising entrepreneurs trying to bootstrap their companies here in the United States might find them an attractive alternative to the $800 price for an average projector here. A $100 projector might allow a dislocated U.S. worker trying to pitch their way out of a dead-end low-wage job to now go into important pitches looking just as professional as the big guys.

These tools will undoubtedly have a big impact in developing countries, but what might the impact of these low price tools be in the developed world?

Might innovation at the top be a side effect to the goal of providing one laptop per child?

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Want to read up on the latest technologies or innovative business thinking?

If you’re committed to continuous learning to maintain your edge in your career, then no doubt you are frequently making trips to Borders or Barnes & Noble, or perhaps online to Amazon to purchase the latest business, technology, or self improvement books. If you are really green and want to save a tree or two, maybe you even go to your local public library.

Many companies say they are committed to employee learning, some even send employees to training courses or conduct internal training classes, but Microsoft takes employee education one step further. They’ve built up their own library at their Redmond, WA campus headquarters that facilitates the acquisition and lending of the latest business and technology titles.

Even vendors can check out a book like The Strategy Paradox by Michael Raynor for three weeks. Audio books on CD, no problem. E-books? The Microsoft library has those too, along with access to online research sources.

If an employee or vendor doesn’t return something their boss gets charged, so that keeps people honest and the library stocked.

Why is this so innovative?

Innovation sometimes requires a commitment that few others are willing to make. How many companies are willing to bear the cost of running their own library?

But yet how many companies constantly complain about the shortage of qualified technology workers?

Making the resources easily available to employees to increase their body of knowledge not only contributes to increased job satisfaction, but also to increased productivity. Making the library available to vendors working on the Microsoft business as well is where one of the key strategic innovations plays out. What a concept!

Microsoft makes use of a large number of contractors and consultants to drive their business and by opening the library to these resources, they increase the return on investment in non-employee resources as well.

What is your company doing to improve productivity and success from supporting continuous learning?

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From a body of work I currently have in development:

Continuous innovation requires that innovation is placed at the center of the organization and that all parts of the organization are changed to support it. To effectively place innovation at the center of the organization, people must know what innovation is, what it looks like in their organization, and how they can contribute. Most people easily confuse invention with innovation, and wrongly chase invention in the name of innovation. Let’s look at the two side by side to clear up the confusion from a common source, the American Heritage Dictionary:

Invention – A discovery, a finding
Innovation – The act of introducing something new

In short, invention is coming up with a great idea, but innovation is the act of introducing that invention successfully to the world. Innovation is truly about transforming the useful seed of an invention into something valuable.

For more on this distinction between useful and valuable, stay tuned!

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Here is an invention that never became an innovation (for sale on eBay):

Want to buy a car with disappearing doors? (check out the video)

Up next week – “Invention versus Innovation”

How do you think invention and innovation are different?

I’ll give you my point of view next week.