Innovation Should Always Fight For The Users (or Customers)
I find it very interesting that, according to this new piece about PARC, it is now innovative to place “as much importance on people as technology” – where did we get the importance on technology in the first place?
Technology should never be used for technologies sake.
This is one reason that even though I moved to the Bay Area to be involved in the latest cutting edge technologies, I still don’t have an iPhone of any flavor or rush out to buy the latest version of anything.
Technology is here is serve the needs of man (or human, if you prefer). Nothing more.
Think about it for a second – how many of the so-called innovations which are out there are innovation for innovation’s sake – or technology for technologies sake?
Is it really true that there are startups out there who never asked “Will anyone find my product of any use?” or “I can that this is something people need”
Remember TRON, either iteration? When did we stop “fighting for the users” and started siding with the MCP?
Breakthroughs may be born in the lab or boardroom, but they live or die in the marketplace – where people determine their real-world value through actual use. That’s why PARC’s approach to innovation places as much importance on people as it does on technology.