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America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

greaterseas.com

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Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#41

Post by shadowsun7 »

dxbydt wrote: post #34
nod wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. You are being rude. Don't write anything that you wouldn't say to someone's face. 2. I believe you completely misread the parent's point: that there are only a few technologies that are 100 years old. (Not sure what that means with regards to the 'transformative' argument, but still...)

Thanks. The "only 3 innovations have lasted over 100 years" premise isn't original. I first heard it at a graduation ceremony and it made a lasting impact on me. Ofcourse the speaker was very charismatic & way more dramatic than I am :) But the phrase keeps popping up in several places. For instance, in Hedgehogging, Barton Biggs goes to a pre-2000 tech conference where they famously declare that technology innovatio…

It pops up in Nicholas Nassem Taleb's works, too: "the technologies that run the world today (like the Internet, the computer and the laser) are not used in the way intended by those who invented them", and: "the three most significant inventions of the past 100 years (...)"

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#42

Post by shadowsun7 »

david927 wrote: post #27
shadowsun7 wrote: post #22

I don't get this meme. Innovation can happen anywhere - and in fact it often does regardless of how seemingly 'useless' the application is. Livejournal is 'boring', but out of it we got Memcached; Facebook is a 'PHP doodad' (actual news article called it that, I kid you not!); out of it we got HipHop and Cassandra and Thrift. Friendfeed is a 'frivolous social app', and out of it we got Tornado. “The best minds of my…

All of these are hacks. Interesting and useful, but hacks. None of these will be around in ten years. It's not the kind of future-inspiring innovation the author was referring to. Web applications don't seem trivial -- they are trivial. Scaling them means being creative, but don't confuse that with true innovation.

Don't be so quick to dismiss 'hacks'. Important innovations often start out in unrelated fields, or build on discoveries or solutions attempted in unrelated fields. We don't have to look too far for evidence of this: the Internet, the laser, and the computer were all important inventions that changed the world in ways its creators never intended them for.

I'd argue that innovation happens in widespread tinkering. So it could be true that most of the tinkering today happens to be on webapps. But it's presumptuous to assume that none of these attempts would result in innovations of significant worth to humanity.

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#43

Post by lefstathiou »

I think there is a bias in where the author, and a lot of the people who have commented below, get their data points on innovation.

If you're routinely reading tech blogs and forums, the usual suspects will appear and you'll naturally assume that the innovation taking place is all web-app related and social media related. If you're reading scientific journals on the other hand, you'll be overwhelmed with the amount of R&D taking place in whatever field you're following. American corporations spend hundreds of billions annually on R&D. These innovations show up in subtle places most people take for granted. Just because you can't see it, or it's not on TechCrunch, doesnt mean it isnt happening.

I would politely suggest that this author, and anyone that routinely reads the same 7 tech blogs, subscribe to MIT Tech Review. It offers incredible insight into more... "fundamental" (for lack of a better word) innovation (not to say improving the way people communicate and access information is not fundamentally innovative).

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#44

Post by Apocryphon »

jff wrote: post #4

I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation selling ads, making social media startups – slaves with white collars. Internet hype has us chasing VCs and tweets, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no AI Winter. No Project MAC. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our…

I'm sure that America's innovation exists beyond Silicon Valley.

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#45

Post by Apocryphon »

chailatte wrote: post #30
TravisLS wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely. Just because all the 25-year-olds are proving themselves by working on ad clicks today doesn't mean tomorrow's Elon Musk isn't among them. A generation of kids cutting their teeth on smaller, more approachable products is going to grow up into a generation of seasoned entrepreneurs who can meaningfully allocate capital to solve bigger problems.

So....after wasting a few years on failed useless ventures, then 10+ years on a successful useless ventures, then hopefully being one of the dozen companies in a decade to make billions either thru an exit or revenues, enough to finally launch your world changing venture and accomplish success in another 10 years or so? Yeah, that explains why America is morally and monetarily bankrupt.

What other nation in the world offers a better approach?

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#46

Post by VladRussian »

mrshoe wrote: post #29

It's pretty easy to disprove statements like "America Lacks Meaningful Innovation" by counterexample. The iPhone. kiva.org. Tesla. SpaceX. Something along the lines of "Much of America's so-called innovation is meaningless" might be more accurate. But any environment that is sufficiently conducive to innovation will produce a lot of meaningless innovation along with the meaningful stuff. Innovation consists of a huge…

to be able to do things like SpaceX one need to have starting capital. While i'm also disgusted by it (mainly i guess because i haven't been able to utilize it :), this meaningless innovation is the fastest track to make such starting capital. What i'm surprized about is why so few SpaceX around. A lot of people have made the enough money to start work on cancer cure and the likes. May be at this level of money, one just don't care anymore. Well, the more is my respect to Musk.

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#47

Post by [deleted] »

mrshoe wrote: post #29

It's pretty easy to disprove statements like "America Lacks Meaningful Innovation" by counterexample. The iPhone. kiva.org. Tesla. SpaceX. Something along the lines of "Much of America's so-called innovation is meaningless" might be more accurate. But any environment that is sufficiently conducive to innovation will produce a lot of meaningless innovation along with the meaningful stuff. Innovation consists of a huge…

[deleted]

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#48

Post by thorwed123 »

KleinmanB wrote: post #40
thorwed123 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iphone == meaningful??? Lol iphone is just maarketing

These articles constantly surface and they are beyond stupid. Facebook is VERY meaningful, 99 Designs (Helping small companies exist) is very meaningful. Marginalizing innovation because they arent curing cancer is stupid and misses the value.

Facebook, well I agree is meaningful.

But n th Facebook app/game, photosharing, UX/Design nonsensical blogging platform is surely isnt innovation.

The issue is that while Wealth might be a non zero sum game, talent is a zero sum game. More people making crap apps mean lesser people working on meaningful innovation in Healthcare, Energy and Computing.

And this sad trend is started by YC/TC and the likes. Actually all traditional VC firms such as KPCB do fund real innovative companies, e.g. BloomBox

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#49

Post by irickt »

SiVal wrote: post #28
jff wrote: post #4

I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation selling ads, making social media startups – slaves with white collars. Internet hype has us chasing VCs and tweets, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no AI Winter. No Project MAC. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our…

Oh, boo-hoo. You've also apparently been raised to believe that someone (probably the government in some form) owed you the life of your dreams, and as it dawns that you might have to work for a living, you assume your "rights" are being violated, have a tantrum, and compose yet another leftist manifesto. I suspect there is something wrong with how you were educated by "the system," but it's not what you think.

Follow the imdb link: it's humor, you know.

Re: America Lacks Meaningful Innovation

#50

Post by Apocryphon »

This article is geographically myopic. If you're in Palo Alto, you think that all the smart kids are trying to make yet another Color. If you're in New York, you think that all of the best STEM grads are trying to get into the financial industry. Both viewpoints don't capture the big picture of "American innovation."
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