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| Yes | 97% | 98 votes | Total: 101 votes | |
| No | 3% | 3 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesThere is, and will always be, room for innovation. The internet is no exception. Really, the question itself is flawed, because it implies that innovation is a tangible thing. It makes it sound as if innovation requires "room" in the same way that an oak tree requires a physical patch of soil. Innovation requires no space. That is the beauty of it. Innovation is actually the process that creates room where there was none previously. It is entirely possible (though exceedingly unlikely for the foreseeable future) that society may cease to innovate online. However, even if that were to occur, it would not be for lack of room for innovation. It would simply mean that people had moved on.
Now, let us take a minute to define innovation. One dictionary defines it as "a new idea, method, or device: Novelty". When the internet was developed, it was a relatively new concept. Today, the concept itself is anything but new. However, seemingly every day someone takes the "old" internet concept and adds a new idea, or device. Some ideas become popular, like Twitter. Some ideas flounder horribly, like UPOC (a site remarkably similar in concept to Twitter).
Innovation is a relative term. One synonym for innovation is novelty. If some 92 year-old asked me to show them something novel online, then I would stifle a chuckle and direct them to directly to the Google homepage . They would probably be pretty impressed with the whole concept of search engines. But if a 26 year-old were to ask me the same question, I might then show them the front page of Helium and ask them if the articles were familiar. There is a good chance that they would say no. To that particular person, it would be novel (i.e. innovative). So in a sense, innovation is a function of popularity as much as it is a function of having never been tried before. Fortunately for all of you would-be innovators out there, innovation can be as simple as bringing an old idea to a new audience. When you look at it that way, innovation doesn't sound so audacious.
But wait. What if you wanted a more conservative definition of innovation? What if you wanted to restrict it to ideas that are new to even the most savvy internet users? In that case, I would direct your attention to the U.S. patent office. If you ran a search there, you would find hundreds of internet related ideas which are new, and ostensibly have not been tried before. Will the rate of patented internet ideas decrease? Probably not. The rate will only increase as people seek to piggy back off of some old innovation. They will take an old idea, add their own unique twist, and Voila! Innovation. These factors are what ensure room for innovation on the internet.
Learn more about this author, Hanif Warren.
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No
Without a doubt the Internet is still evolving just as most of the things in our world are, but evolution does not imply innovation. The basis of the Internet is still the same as it was four decades ago, a mechanism to convey information from one party to another. Many variations on this basic purpose have been discovered and exploited, leading to; social networking sites, auction sites, email, wiki's, media sharing sites, and many others. However none of these environments represent true innovation. The basis of all these activities is the transfer of information from one group to another an activity that has been occurring between humans before the dawn of time. While the mechanism of transferring this information has indeed evolved and become more efficient, there has never been any true innovation within the Internet or the many resources which it has spawned.
We cannot deny that the way people conduct their lives has significantly changed with the introduction of the Internet. However we must remember that it is the human who causes innovation, innovation is an adaptation of a factor in our environment to make said factor usable or advantageous to us. Innovation is not present in the tool, but in its user. Therefore the person who utilizes the Internet for his convenience, pleasure, or monetary gain is the true innovator. These are the Daniel Craig's, Pierre Omidyar's, and Ray Tomlinson's of our world. As they have manipulated a tool in a new way that has allowed them to create a new experience that did not previously exist.
There will always be people who strike it rich selling on Ebay, creating a social networking site, or writing yet another Iphone application. But in the end all we are doing is reusing tools that our ancestors have developed so many years ago. Transfer of information is key to the human existence; it links us with our fellow man, allowing us to share fears, dreams, and ideas. The transfer of information has brought meaning to our existence as humans, allowing us to influence those around us. The Internet is a facilitator of that key need, not a provider; therefore it cannot provide any true innovation. Is it too late for the Internet however? I believe it is far too early to say, none of us had any idea of the extent the Internet would affect our lives several years ago. As what was previously a tool used for sporadic communication has become a daily resource for a vast majority of Americans. None of us can tell what the future truly holds, but my prediction is that the Internet will evolve and grow, but when stripped down to its base components I believe it will be exactly the same.
Learn more about this author, Nathan Ledeaux.
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