On Innovation

I feel it is necessary to clarify my definition of Innovation to contribute to our on-going discussion of the three concepts of Imagination, Creativity, and Innovation.

First, in addressing the complaint of my mass marketing mentality. It is necessary to expound on what I refer to as "Mass Marketing." The object in question is produced on some large scale for which it can be used daily.

This is not to imply that it is readily available to anyone. To address the concern of missiles, of course you or I won't be able to go down to our local Wal-Mart and purchase a missile (yet). But the government produces more of them every day. It uses some (do not forget that the US is technically fighting two wars, perhaps a third if you count the new US action against pirates off the coast of Somalia), and some it sells to other countries. It may not be something the average person can use, but it is produced on a large scale. It is an innovation.

On a more practical scale, an airplane is also an Innovation. Many of us don't fly or travel in a plane every day, but the fact is that every day, planes are being used all over the world, and they're being produced and sold to commercial airlines, militaries, and a few private individuals who can afford the luxury of a plane. Just because most people don't use these every day or purchase them for use like they would a car does not diminish the fact that they are an Innovation.

In other words, an Innovation is something that is manufactured and reproduced for some sort of practical use, be it as a weapon of war or mass transit. This also explains why Art is not Innovation, as Art's function is purely for a mental capacity, to satiate the mind rather than to aid in a task. Innovations do things. Art is an outlet for human emotion.