From the development of video tapes to streaming video online, a surprising number of innovations have been brought about thanks to the determination of porn industry to distribute its output as… effectively as possible.
Schools will use new 3D television techniques to teach. Imagine how geography lessons will come alive if classes can virtually wander [...]
Innovation and social good… thanks to the porn industry?
Posted by John Lampard on Friday, 15 January, 2010 to the comment subset
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For a faster, lighter, bike frame try one made from bamboo
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 14 January, 2010 to the comment subset
The pioneer of carbon fibre bicycle frames, Craig Calfee, has found another, even better, material to construct frames with… bamboo.
It was actually his dog that gave the brainwave. While the pitbull-labrador cross was playing he got hold of a piece of bamboo. When the dog let the piece of bamboo go, Calfee picked up [...]
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The innovative crimes of passion of creative people
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 15 December, 2009 to the comment subset
On the whole it seems people are all for creativity and innovation so long as such activity doesn’t result in too much… creativity and innovation.
So really, what we are being told is, “be creative, but not TOO creative”. Any creative ideas that attempt to shift the current paradigm or reject a paradigm completely are [...]
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Do patent systems stifle innovation and creativity?
Posted by John Lampard on Monday, 14 December, 2009 to the comment subset
Are intellectual property rights detrimental to innovation and creativity, and the social good?
The short answer is that intellectual property does not increase innovation and creation. Extending IP rights may modestly boost the incentive for innovation, but this positive effect is wiped away by the negative effect of creating monopolies. There is simply no evidence [...]
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What do designers do? Ask stupid questions of course
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 3 December, 2009 to the design and art subset
Warren Berger spent two years studying designers in an attempt to understand what exactly it is that they do:
Designers question: to be more specific, they ask what Bruce Mau calls “the stupid questions” – the kind that are actually profound, but can make you look stupid because they address fundamental issues. When designers ask [...]
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Work will evolve in the future to make itself extinct
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 17 September, 2009 to the trends subset
In 20 to 30 years the workplace could be very different to what we’re used to now, with seemingly the only thing not to be done away with in the future is the work itself…
The human-computer interface will all but disappear. No computers, no faxes, no printers, no keyboards, no 2D monitors, no white [...]
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The science fiction invention time line
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 15 September, 2009 to the technology subset
Fascinating captain, a time line of science fiction inventions dating from the time of Johannes Kepler in 1634, right on through to this year.
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The slowly evolving origins of innovation
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 8 September, 2009 to the comment subset
A review of a book written by professor W. Brian Arthur “The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves”, and a dissection of the slow burning nature of innovation:
Rather, innovation is something that comes from the hard work of decades and decades of education and training. It is something that comes from [...]
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Imitate, don’t innovate, that’s the way to win design awards
Posted by John Lampard on Wednesday, 12 August, 2009 to the design and art subset
A comparison of award winning design concepts in 2009 with that of 2000.
If designers are truly cultural shape-makers, why are we awarding the same thing we awarded almost ten years ago? Gladwell might suggest that we are suffering from an “illusion of control” where be believe so stridently in our past decisions, that “we overestimate [...]
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We can live without cars and computers but not toothbrushes
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 30 June, 2009 to the comment subset
If people had to choose between keeping just one everyday item most would forgo the likes of computers, cars, and mobile phones and hang on only to their toothbrush.
A 2003 survey asked Americans which of the following inventions would be the hardest to live without: the automobile, the personal computer, the cellphone, the microwave and [...]
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