by admin | May 2, 2014 | Innovation
If this egg scrambling tool works as promised, your egg can come out of its shell with the yolk and egg already mixed. You could hard or soft boil, fry, scramble or devil them into what creator Geraint Krumpe calls “golden eggs,” named for the eggs’ creamy, soft yellow color when they come out. “I was laid off from a company I worked for for 11 years,” Krumpe says, when asked how this all started. “So I had to get creative.” Krumpe started a product design company and sometime last Easter, he was surfing YouTube videos and found inspiration. “I found a video with a science guy spinning an egg inside a shirtsleeve. So I said, I have to try this. I stayed up late and broke a bunch of eggs trying to get one to work,” he says. You can read more about this delicious innovation idea for scrambling eggs inside the shell...
by admin | May 2, 2014 | Innovation
Even after almost 10 years of unveiling the latest consumer technology at the International CES, innovation and the ways it keeps us connected — no matter where we are — continues to amaze me. But innovation can also produce what economists refer to as negative externalities: an incessant urge to stay connected, even while we’re driving. And that connection can come at the expense of safety — for us, our families riding in our cars, the strangers with whom we’re sharing the road and everyone who’s hoofing it along sidewalks and crosswalks. The legacy of technology in the vehicle is one driven by safety. From John Hetrick’s invention of the automotive airbag, to Saab’s decision in 1968 to make safety belts standard, to Richard Kearn’s invention of the intermittent windshield wiper. The long list of vehicle innovation has contributed significantly to safer driving. Early figures suggest the number of traffic fatalities fell in 2013 to the lowest level in 64 years. In more ways, consumer technology we bring into the vehicle also contributes to safer driving, from navigation systems to Bluetooth hands-free capabilities. But where should we draw the line in deciding which technologies truly make driving safer and which can potentially put us at greater risk on the road? Read more about how innovation holds the key to driver safety...
by admin | May 1, 2014 | Innovation
Leading an innovation culture can be a messy business. Or, maybe that should be: Leading an innovation business can be a messy culture. However the notion is phrased, the point is the same. Innovation is not a tidy process. By its very nature, innovation is unpredictable, even though your business requires predictability. It is full of surprises, even when you believe your biggest enemy is surprise. And, frequently, innovation delivers more failure than success, even when your future (both your organization’s and yours as an individual!) demands a track record of success. Innovation is intrinsically a contradiction, offering significant improvement to your business, just as it offers up disruption and change. It can dramatically enhance your competitive advantage, while at the same time putting your existing market advantage at risk. It can create sustainable growth, while at the same time threatening known, existing growth elements. It seems axiomatic that positioning innovation as a core value or business model is a high-reward, high-risk proposition. And that means that creating an innovation culture may very well require a different approach to leadership, a different way of thinking about yourself, and a different way of being mindful of your own development as a leader. Read more about leading an innovation culture...
by admin | Apr 21, 2014 | Innovation
Samsung Electronics is marking its 45th anniversary today by opening the Samsung Innovation Museum in Suwon, South Korea. “The Samsung Innovation Museum brings together some of the true historical masterpieces of electronics innovation,” said CEO Kwon Oh-hyun at the opening event. “These inventions laid the technological foundation that allowed us to develop and refine products that enhance lives today. The museum gives visitors an opportunity to see where we’ve come from and also see where Samsung draws inspiration from to continue to create category defining products.” Find out more about this Samsung museum...
by admin | Apr 21, 2014 | Innovation
Horace Dediu is trying to convince us all to accept a new word of his creation, innoveracy, to aid in explaining new products like Apple’s AAPL +1.14% iPhone. Truly ground breaking new products, ones that are different from novelty, creation and invention. And there’s much to like in at least part of his argument. For example, the insistence that inventions and or innovations need to pass the market test so that we can find out whether they truly are adding value. However, the coinage will make economists a bit twitchy (and possibly etymologists too) for we already use “innovation” in economics in two different ways. Of course, being economists the word is used in two contradictory ways as well, dependent upon context. Read more about how you can use the iPhone to differentiate between invention and innovation...
by admin | Apr 15, 2014 | Innovation
Windows that prevent bird collisions by mimicking the UV-reflective qualities of spider webs; a train that travels faster, uses less energy and makes less noise after it was redesigned to resemble a bird’s beak; highly efficient wind turbine blades that mimic the bumpy edges of a whale’s flippers. These are just three of countless examples of biomimicry – technologies inspired by forms, processes and systems found in nature. The discipline is no longer just an academic exercise. It has become an innovation tool that allows companies to develop a new class of products and services. As I pointed out in my previous column, biomimicry is transforming the ways we design, produce, transport and distribute goods and services; and more and more companies are approaching Mother Nature for innovative ideas to help solve complex human problems. Read more about biomimicry and how it can streamline your business for innovation...
