Generic discussion of technology disruption and historical patent system

308 Are the Androids Dreaming Yet? Equipment and Wang. New technology often underperforms the existing forms. 544” drives were slower, less reliable, and cost more per bit than their 8” predecessors but, of course, in one respect they were better. They were smaller and lighter and could fit in portable computers. The new technologies did a different thing in a different way, and overcame their disadvantages later. This chain of events is repeated many times over: Yellow Pages overtaken by Google, Borders by Amazon, Blockbusters by Netflix. Disruptive innovation changes the rules of the game as well as the pieces in the game. Christensen’s advice to companies is to separate your innovators from the existing business because their priorities will differ too greatly. Modern companies build entirely new divisions to create new products, or set up innovation labs to incubate ideas that would otherwise never get enough resources. Reward for Creativity There's no doubt society values creativity very highly. One of the first tasks Thomas Jefferson undertook when he became President of the United States was to set up a patent system. He remained head of the patent office for over ten years. These days, the protection of creative Harold Cohen, Computer Art HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015998