The mobile industry seems to carry the flag of innovation these days...
At least it seems so if you read the latest news.
Microsoft buying the mobile phone branch of Nokia (yes, there are other Nokia businesses we do no hear much about); Apple diversifying its new creations to cover more ground at different speeds; and Blackberry reducing its size.
Either we have become used to innovations as hollywood-jobs styles of product launch events, or to see innovations as business re-structuring in the technology market.
What stroke me particularly (also because I am a user of ipad, yes I am, to the surprise of many who know me!), is that the launch of the new iphone/ipad operating system was the quietest of the events. Like a silent revolution, or should I say a silent anti-revolution?
It used to be the case that the most exciting developments in technology were those of software. If anyone remembers, just waiting for the new features of the new Microsoft Windows operating system was met with lots of speculation, hype, excitement. Hardware had just to provide faster and more efficient processing, capable of supporting all the software inventions that engineers were throwing to the market, inventions that were normally cooked in a relaxed atmosphere by these engineers, or should I say geeks? I studied computer science and met one or two of these guys, and also dreamed at some point if I should be one of them. Life took its turn and here I am, as a researcher, academic and now a father of beautiful twins.
So not a lot of excitement for me about technological innovations, but it is not only myself that I need to blame in this regard.
Let me say that technology companies, and for this effect mobile companies too, have become locked in this hype-game where the substance is difficult to fine. True, there are innovations of some scale in the new technology products. Microsoft also tried to innovate by putting its operating system in new hardware devices (tablets). But what we see is just a rearrangement and re-assemblage of tiny innovation into existing products.
Apple might say they have introduced a new micro-processor with the new iphone. But how software is making the best of this processor, apart from making the interface friendlier and perhaps (just perhaps) a bit more efficient, does not show. At least not in the marketing briefs.
I am not a church fan of Microsoft, Apple or anyone. My blog is often updated in a Dell computer that runs Windows XP. This operating system is still stable after many years. And I also have an iphone. Where have the software innovations gone? Where are the geeks, trying to connect different hardware devices so they can talk to each other? Where are the innovations in green personal computing technology, and the people caring about them, where are they?
Is it that they are all belonging to the Android church, which still needs to show how much more efficient it is than its competitors? Or is it that all the geeks have left Microsoft and are now being replaced by marketeers (no offence to any of these guys though) or carefully conservative managers (who are capable of delivering, according to the advertised job descriptions)? Where are the new inventors?
And of course we need to ask this question: Where is the money for research and development in technology?
One thing feeds another (systemic thinking, remember?), and if many companies cut on their investments for the future and have nicely cut corners to produce ok innovations rather than good ones, then we will not have much to be excited about in the next few years.
So for now let us all continue being silent in this hype of revolution that is also becoming predictable each year. Let us hold our breath for really good things. And let us keep trying to challenge ourselves as innovators.
