Whoa? Bruce Nussbuam, arguably the most effective and dedicated proponent of the term "innovation" ever, dropped an I-Bomb on Wednesday (the last day of 2009!) by declaring the word dead. Here's the start:
"Innovation" died in 2008, killed off by overuse, misuse, narrowness, incrementalism and failure to evolve. It was done in by CEOs, consultants, marketeers, advertisers and business journalists who degraded and devalued the idea by conflating it with change, technology, design, globalization, trendiness, and anything "new." It was done it by an obsession with measurement, metrics and math and a demand for predictability in an unpredictable world. The concept was also done in, strangely enough, by a male-dominated economic leadership that rejected the extraordinary progress in "uncertainty planning and strategy" being done at key schools of design that could have given new life to "innovation. To them, "design" is something their wives do with curtains, not a methodology or philosophy to deal with life in constant beta--life in 2009.
And what does he nominate to take its place? Well, that's what links are for.
damn... kind of a depressing outlook on "innovation", but sadly... probably the truth.
p.s. The World's Best Gadget Designers Speak in Objectified
(hat tip: jeff)
of course, the $6.5k pricetag is enough to make my ass pucker.... yikes! oh well, maybe in a few more years we'll start to see more of these around and come down in price -- really would look awesome on my computer stand, though. heh.
p.s. looking forward to seeing some of the new gadgets and especially the TV's at CES... hoping to see or read more about these new really thin and sleek Neo-PDP plasmas from panasonic that i've read about... just the thought of having a 50" plasma that's like 1" thick that i can literally hang up on the wall brings a smile to this polish mug.
vid of the day: Best of Sporn: A Love Song [NSFW]
i didn't blog about this earlier since it just didn't seem right and i certainly didn't want to cause any waves or anything... but needless to say we had to let some people go about a month ago, and it really sucked... as does this economy, that's for damn sure... so a quick note that i'm still here, working on clearspring and AddThis -- mostly on the frontend stuff, as you already know i'm sure... have some cool shit in the pipeline that's going to be pretty tasty. heh.
really blows to see co-workers and friends go though... have you lost peepz at your work place lately?
p.s. thanks for the emails and IM's...
Video Game Console Usage
| Rank | Console | Usage Minutes % |
| 1 | PlayStation 2 | 31.7 |
| 2 | Xbox 360 | 17.2 |
| 3 | Wii | 13.4 |
| 4 | Xbox | 9.7 |
| 5 | PlayStation 3 | 7.3 |
| 6 | GameCube | 4.6 |
| 7 | Other | 16.2 |
yeah... how incredible is that, man?! seriously, that's pretty bad concidering that microsoft practically dropped the original xbox as soon as the 360 came out... suppose it just goes to show that most PS3 owners aren't buying it for all the awesome game'age. *blink*
probably more like me, who uses it mainly as a blu-ray player. heh.
nothing uber exciting so far... but i'm sure their will be something worthy and of note, if past mac events are any indication... personally, i'd love if they announced a new 32gb iPhone being made available immediately and that verizon would be now be carrying it! hey... i can dream...
9:49AM "So number two... we have a completely new version of iWork." Oh boy. Wake us up when this is over.
*chuckle*
update: hmmmm... new 17" macbook pro... didn't see that one coming!
10:28AM Ha! "All songs DRM-free"
10:28AM "By the end of this quarter, all 10 million songs will be DRM free." About time!
10:27AM "Next, iTunes Plus -- it's DRM free, and much higher quality. We've worked with all the major companies... starting today, 8 million songs will be DRM free." Huge cheers.
10:26AM "Over the last six years songs have been $0.99 -- music companies want more flexibility. New pricing, $0.69, and another tier at $1.29."
holy shit...... about time!!! probably the biggest announcement of the day from Macworld 2009.
dunno if any of you guys saw this one, but holy shit that's awesome! who would've ever thunk that the almighty wheel would one day replace the trusty old keyboard... and for only $2,600? wow.
*smirk*
Dear Apple Community,
For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.
I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.
As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.
Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.
I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.
So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.
Steve
well speak of the devil... still think it might all be a cover-up for him having something more serious, like cancer or AIDS.
just kidding, he has no reason to lie about it.
NEW YORK – Apple Inc. founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, said Monday that a hormonal imbalance is to blame for the weight loss that has prompted worries about his health.Jobs, 53, said he will undergo a "relatively simple" treatment and will remain in charge of Apple.
"A hormone imbalance ... has been `robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy," Jobs said in a public letter, adding, "Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis."
Speculation about his health percolated in 2008 as Jobs appeared gaunt at public appearances. Those worries intensified after Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said in December that Jobs would not be making his annual keynote address Tuesday in San Francisco at the Macworld conference.
i remember the surprise of people after the last Mac event, where people were wondering if he was sick.. then some rumors going around the Net about him having AIDS or something, and all those "what would apple do without steve jobs?" articles that circulated around -- i'm pretty sure that Apple wouldn't be the same without him at the helm.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel seized control of high-rise buildings and attacked houses, mosques and smuggling tunnels as it pressed its offensive against the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers on Monday, while the U.S. joined a stream of countries pushing for a cease-fire.
At least 14 Palestinian children were killed on Monday, raising the known Palestinian death toll from the 10-day onslaught to 540 — including 200 civilians, the U.N. and Palestinian officials said. Gaza's biggest hospital said it was overwhelmed.
Five Israelis have died since the operation began.
From Gaza, Hamas continued to pummel southern Israel with more than two dozen rockets on Monday, including one that struck an empty kindergarten in the city of Ashdod, and promised to wait for Israeli soldiers "in every street and every alleyway."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the offensive would go on until Israel achieved "peace and tranquility" for residents of southern Israel.
After a week of air strikes beginning Dec. 27, Israeli ground troops invaded Gaza late Saturday. They quickly seized a main highway in Gaza, slicing the territory in half, and on Monday, Israeli forces pounded houses — one of them belonging to a leading Hamas member who was not there at the time — a pair of mosques and smuggling tunnels.
Israel has attacked several mosques during the campaign, saying they were used to store weapons.
The Israeli army said "dozens" of militants have been killed or wounded, but Hamas has not released casualty figures. A Palstinian health official said 80 people — including 70 civilians — have died since the ground invasion began, fueling international outrage.
Israel has three main demands: an end to Palestinian attacks, international supervision of any truce and a halt to Hamas rearming. Hamas demands a cessation of Israeli attacks and the opening of vital Gaza-Israel cargo crossings, Gaza's main lifeline.
seems to me like those three demands are perfectly reasonable, and something they've been talking about and saying/asking for... well, for years now... as long as isreal keeps being attacked with rockets, and the daily threat of suicide bombers and the like, i doubt that many can fault them for them wanting it to stop... then again, that's just me -- i don't see or expect israel to suddenly stop short of their objective.
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama, commencing face to face consultations with congressional leaders Monday, is embracing an unexpectedly large tax cut of up to $300 billion. Obama said the country faces an "extraordinary economic challenge."
Besides $500 tax cuts for most workers and $1,000 for couples, the Obama proposal includes more than $100 billion for businesses, an Obama transition official said. The total value of the tax cuts would be significantly higher than had been signaled earlier.
"The reason we are here today is because the people's business cannot wait," Obama said as he arrived on Capitol Hill in late morning for talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The speaker and her staff have been extraordinarily helpful in working with our team so we can shape an economic recovery plan and start putting people back to work."
Obama will be sworn in as the nation's 44th president in just over two weeks.
The tax cuts for individuals and couples would be similar to the rebate checks sent out last year by the Bush administration and Congress in a bid at that time to boost the slowing economy. A key difference is that the tax cuts this time around may be awarded through withholding less from worker paychecks. That provision would cost about $140-150 billion over two years.
color me surprised... not very often that one might see "democrats" and "tax cuts" belonging in the same sentence... with all the shit that's been going on, they really need to curb government spending... big time.
on a sidenote, had a town hall meeting at work this morning and the topic of the inauguration came up... wonder if we'll be gettting off work or doing a half-day, since some peepz are going i guess... and if not, i can only imagine what the traffic around here will be like. *blink*
got home with jayden, slapped it into the disk drive... and of course, there's a game update that took forever to effin download -- seriously, starting up a game and having to wait around for nearly an hour for it to download and install updates kinda blows... but whatever.
finally get to play... and holy shit, jayden and i were playing for the next 4 hours straight, man... shit is awesome, fun, and had both of us laughing at times... especially when we finally figured out how to bitch slap.. haha
if you have a PS3 and haven't played it yet, i'd recommend checking it out... definitely worth a rental just for curiosity's sake at the very least... my only complaint? checking out the PSN store and finding some cool outfits that are all for sale... i just dropped $60 on the game, why the hell would i want to drop another $3 here and there for a few sackboy costumes? ugh... fucking microtransactions.