PD fallacy #4: innovation means latest technology

Few words in industry have such an overloaded meaning as the term “innovation.” Innovation and all its derivatives, like being innovative, in many contexts simply mean “good.” The underlying idea is that we like new and different, and an innovation will provide that.

In product development, innovation almost always refers to introducing a new technology in the product. This might be the next generation of a SoC (system on chip), a new material, a different user interface, and so on. The general belief is that if we simply keep our products up to the latest that our suppliers can provide and we can afford to develop, they’ll be competitive and consequently profitable.