Can HP Slate challenge the Apple iPad?

Courtesy: Engadget

By comparing head to head on technology, HP Slate appears to have the lead over Apple iPad. However, when I create a new comparison matrix between HP Slate & Apple iPad based on key technology areas and the WOW factors, a different view emerges:

	HP Slate	Apple iPad
Ease-of-use	Maybe	Yes
Intuitive Touch Screen	Maybe	Yes
Simplicity	Maybe	Yes
Fun to Use	Maybe	Yes
eBook Reader	Maybe	Yes
Video & Music Player	Yes	Yes
Video Camera	Yes	No
Web Browsing	Yes	Yes
Great Apps	Maybe	Yes
Millions of Users & fans	No	Yes
Connectivity	Yes	No
Battery Life	Short	Long
WOW FACTOR	No	Yes

Bottomline:

Apple sold over 300,000 iPads on the first day of launch... "Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day."

“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world—it’s going to be a game changer,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad.”

What this means to Apple's topline is new product revenue in the billions (yes, you read it right!) from Apple iPad sales in 2010 (check Apple iPad will ignite the eBook market...) but there's more... Apple will generate new product revenue for the apps and eBooks... which could be another billion dollar business in the making!

All this means is an uphill climb for HP Slate... and it's all going to come down to ease-of-use, fun to use, intuitiveness and the coolness factor (and not the bells & whistles)! HP Slate doesn't have the X-Factor that an Apple iPad has. On the other hand, HP Slate can make a killing in the Netbook market... but that's not the game Apple iPad is playing. Can Mark Hurd provide the oomph that HP Slate needs to become successful overnight? He better be calling Steve Jobs...

How does Apple, the #1 innovative company in the world, innovate and create game-changing innovations such as the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad and more? What is Apple's secret recipe for innovation success?

What is Apple's Innovation Strategy? Download these Apple Innovation eBook insights and learn to be like Apple... like Steve Jobs, the innovator and CEO of Apple.


― "There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote
that I love. 'I skate to where the puck
is going to be, not where it has been.'
And we've always tried to do that at
Apple. Since the very very beginning.
And we always will." —Steve Jobs

Apple innovates through:
• Creativity and Innovation
• Innovation in Products
• Innovation in Business Model
• Innovation in Customer Experience
• Innovation and Leadership
• Steve Jobs

This Apple Innovation Strategy ebook provides insights, strategy, best practices, facts and much more...

Apple has built an Innovation Factory – one that harnesses creativity in its people, stimulating new ideas, and launching successful, profitable new innovations... Apple leverages its diverse culture, innovation processes, partners and networks to seize the new opportunities in the marketplace and grow its business...exponentially…

How did Apple do it?
• Increase revenue more than 400% in 8 years…
• Increase net profit more than 650% in 8 years…
• Increase market cap more than twenty times to over $170 billion and
counting…

The Apple Innovation eBook has been revised in 2011, and includes new insights, iPad innovation, Steve Jobs interview and more!

Download Now

If you are having download issues, send us an email at: info at innovationmain dot com

About the author:
Sanjay Dalal is an innovator and entrepreneur with over fifteen years of leadership experience in Silicon Valley and High Tech companies. Dalal authored and launched the Innovation Faculty eBook and Definitive Guide on Creativity and Innovation in business in 2008, used by over 650 leading organizations and professionals all over the world including HP, Hallmark, Cleveland Clinic, Pepsi, EDS, J&J, TATA and major universities. Dalal published over 200 articles in the last two years on the real-time state of innovation in business at this blog on Creativity and Innovation Driving Business, and introduced the Innovation Index in December 2006 that correlates business, innovation and stock performance. Dalal filed joint U.S. Patent on "Hands-On Labs" for delivering live, hands-on training over Web Meetings by simulating a training lab environment. Dalal has launched innovative products such as WebEx Training Center and WebEx Sales Center to market, and grown product line revenue to tens of million dollars in annual revenue. Dalal holds executive certification on Leading Management Teams from Cornell University, and is an engineering scholar graduate in Computer Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Dalal attended Arizona State University for graduate education in Computer Science.

Innovation eBook is brought to you by Creativity And Innovation Driving Business based in Irvine, CA.

Address: 111 Academy Way, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92617
Main Phone #: 1-949-288-6880

HP (NYSE: HPQ) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are two of the top 20 innovators of the Innovation Index.

Selected references:
Leading Business Innovation eBook & Resource Kit
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

MySQL Conference Slides and Thoughts on State of the Dolphin

I did two talks on replication and clustering at the recent MySQL Conference in Santa Clara.  Thanks to all of you who attended as well as the fine O'Reilly folks who organized everything.  Slides are posted on the talk descriptions at the following URLs: 

• Clustering for the Masses - A Gentle Introduction to Tungsten for MySQL

• Not Your Grandpa’s Replication-The New Wave of MySQL Replication and How It Helps Your Applications (A collaborative talk with Jay Pipes)

Conferences like the MySQL UC are fun because you get to see all your virtual pals in the flesh and have a beer with them.  This is one of the fundamental open source bonding experiences.  Unfortunately the taps for draft beer stopped working at the bar, and Tungsten is in the middle of a big crunch to get parallel replication working.  I didn't get to hang around a lot this year.  A few things still stood out compared to 2009. 

First of all, long-term effects of the Oracle acquisition are clear.   Edward Screven's keynote on "The State of the Dolphin" was sensible and boring.  It seemed a telling metaphor for life in the community going forward.  Oracle is going to do an adequate job of MySQL engineering and better than adequate for Windows.  This is of course "adequate" in the same way that the word applies to products like Microsoft Word. 

An adequate MySQL is probably the worst possible outcome for the groups trying to build businesses on alternative builds.  It looks like an effective way for Oracle to neutralize competitive threats from below for a few years to come.   On the other hand, it's good for most users, who won't be greatly inclined to switch unless Oracle tries to soak them for big licensing fees.  At least one conference attendee, a licensee of other Oracle products, mentioned that had already happened.  He's a MariaDB fan now. 

Second, solid state devices (SSDs) are for real.   Andreas Bechtolsheim gave a great talk on the coming SSD revolution at the 2009 MySQL Conference.  It sounded good.  At the 2010 conference we started to see some real test results.  The hype on SSDs is completely justified. 

There was an excellent panel talk sponsored by Fusion-IO that presented some very compelling results including 10x throughput improvements that allowed one of the companies doing the testing to pull out and repurpose 75% of their hosts.  PCI-based Fusion-IO cards have a 300- to 400X price differential compared to basic rotating disk, but the cost is likely to drop pretty quickly as the technology matures and more competitors enter the field.  Much cheaper SATA alternatives like the Intel X-25 are already starting to flood the low-end market.  Anybody building database systems has to have a plan that accounts for SSDs now. 

Third, innovation is continuing apace but the problems (and solutions) are moving away from MySQL.   Mark Callaghan really put his finger on it at his Ignite MySQL talk when he said, "In 3 years MySQL won't be the default DBMS for high-scale applications."  New system investment is going into applications that handle big data, have to utilize new hardware efficiently to operate economically, and require multi-tenancy.  These are good targets for Drizzle, PBXT, Tungsten, and other new projects working to make names for themselves.   We all have to raise our game or MySQL will start to become irrelevant.   It's going to be an interesting year.  :)

On Blindspots, Shift and Change

I woke up antsy again this morning, a common occurrence for me of late, sensing that I need a shift in life but not sure what to do or where to focus. So I write this with no conclusion planned, no lesson about creativity already identified. I am seeking a personal breakthrough, a change of perspective, right here, right now, fingertips on laptop.

I'm trying to turn toward my peripheral vision to uncover my blindspot(s)--where an answer lies--but what I see and hear instead is this constant barrage from my mind: Get to your 14 things to do, go through those 4 different pending email folders, make those calls, strategize then plan then do then act then go, go, go or you are in trouble. To escape this noise, I click on an email and suddenly find myself reading Will Marre's blog, where he is addressing something similar in his post "Take Back Your Life." He describes the increase of stress in our personal work worlds, and this part speaks to me:

Those who have decided to work for themselves as consultants or starting a new enterprise have so much pressure to outperform that the velocity of our warship has to always be moving at “warp.” If we slow down the immense gravity of our death-star economy will crush us. Whew.

That's it. The pressure I too often feel has put some kind of neck brace on me. I can't turn my head toward a very real force that is trying to get my attention. This is why I'm so antsy. I need to shift but the immense gravity weighs on me and I can't move.

So now I'm trying to access a different part of my being through the less rigid, right side of my brain. I rifle through some writing and find a poem of mine that recalls a long-ago moment in Napa, CA. Yes, this is close to the feeling I'm having.

...I cool against this tree trunk
with the wood-wind in my hair

and the sound of motors

in my mind

I remember the need I felt then to dip my head into some different kind of water:

Right now I crave water that has the texture of birth

and I would dip my head in it to show

what can be replaced

My hair would not turn gold
like the boy from the story

but I would find alloys from this strange land

in the puddle near the drain

of the bin I wash in

to start my day

I just took a shower. I was consciously trying to wash out the "alloys" from my hair in order to feel different, to emerge with a new mindset that would enable me to see what I needed to do in a way I couldn't before. But I discovered that nothing washed out of my hair. The alloys, if anything, were now a more permanent part of me--the gray in my hair. Which I realize I can cover or hide but can never replace.

C.K.Prahalad : Will Be Sorely Missed

 C.K.Prahalad : The name resonates with different people - Business, Entrepreneurs, Management thinkers, Co-Authors, Consultants, Management Students, Government workers - in many different ways. For CK, perspective in most of what he had done has essentially come out of discussing, debating, working, observing and challenging with everyone around him. His belief in the early 1990s that there was more to strategy than the existing body of knowledge caught the attention of all and catapulted him into a different league. The idea that smaller business entities in a newer market can successfully compete and win looked counterintuitive until CK began to push the idea more aggressively. 

He had more integrated view of business than most others of his genre. He had a firm belief that inclusive growth and sustainability were intertwined and believed that inclusive growth and sustainability forces us to recognize how to do more for more people with less. This is the bedrock of his themes on business competitiveness, co-creation and sustainability. He claimed that his work centered around four areas: globalization, connectivity, inclusive growth and sustainability. The reality is that nobody has looked at all four of these and tried to understand their linkages for better leverage. He rightfully felt that this intersection of the four would be creating the next big opportunities for management and the society at large.I have seen him in action in the fields of information technology, innovation, TiE, Sustainability - all within a span of few years and the way he created seminal thinking and action in the respective fields was sheer magic. He galvanized the movers and shakers of these industries and many times was part of creating new landscape. He was very imaginative in his thinking and always had the ability to move the needle through his discussions. Read the full note  http://sandhill.com/opinion/daily_blog.php?id=44&post=632" target="_blank">here

Customized Data Movement with Tungsten Replicator Pipelines

Have you ever run into a problem where MySQL replication did 95% of what you needed but not the remaining 5% to solve a real problem?  Hacking the binlog is always a possibility, but it typically looks like this example.  Not a pretty sight.  Wouldn't it be easier if replication were a bunch of building blocks you could recombine to create custom replicator processes? 

Tungsten 1.3 has a new feature called pipelines that allows you to do exactly that.  A pipeline consists of one or more stages that tie together generic components to extract, filter, store, and apply events, which is Tungsten parlance for transactions.  Each stage has a processing thread, so multi-stage pipelines can process data independently and without blocking.  The stages also take care of important but tedious issues like remembering the transactional state of each stage so Tungsten can restart without forgetting events or applying them twice.

Here is a picture of how a pipeline is put together.

When Tungsten Replicator starts it loads a pipeline corresponding to its role, for example master or slave.   The preceding picture shows a slave pipeline consisting of two stages.  The first stage pulls replicated events over the network from a master Tungsten Replicator and stores them in a local transaction history log, which we call the THL.  The second stage extracts the stored events and applies them to the database.   This pipeline is analogous to the I/O and SQL threads on a MySQL slave.

Where Tungsten departs from MySQL and most other replicators in a big way is that pipelines, hence the replication flows, are completely configurable.   The configuration is stored in file replicator.properties.  Here are the property settings to create the slave pipeline.  Note how the role is the name of a pipeline.  This determines which pipeline to run when the replicator goes online.

# Replicator role. 
replicator.role=slave
...
# Generic pipelines. replicator.pipelines=master,slave,direct 

...
# Slave pipeline has two stages:  extract from remote THL to local THL; 
# extract from local THL and apply to DBMS. 
replicator.pipeline.slave=remote-to-thl,thl-to-dbms
replicator.pipeline.slave.stores=thl
replicator.pipeline.slave.syncTHLWithExtractor=false

replicator.stage.remote-to-thl=com.continuent.tungsten.replicator.pipeline.SingleThreadStageTask
replicator.stage.remote-to-thl.extractor=thl-remote
replicator.stage.remote-to-thl.applier=thl-local

replicator.stage.thl-to-dbms=com.continuent.tungsten.replicator.pipeline.SingleThreadStageTask
replicator.stage.thl-to-dbms.extractor=thl-local
replicator.stage.thl-to-dbms.applier=mysql
replicator.stage.thl-to-dbms.filters=mysqlsessions

The syntax is not beautiful but it is quite flexible.  Here is what this definition means.

1. This replicator knows about three pipelines named master, slave, and direct. 
2. The slave pipeline has two stages called remote-to-thl and thl-to-dbms and a store called thl.  It has a property named syncTHLWithExtractor which must be set to false for slaves.  (We need to change that name to something like 'isMaster'.) 
3. The remote-to-thl stage extracts from thl-remote.  This extractor reads events over the network from a remote replicator.  The stage apples to thl-local, which is an applier that writes events to the local transaction history log. 
4. The thl-to-dbms stage pulls events from the local log and applies them to the database.  Note that in addition to an applier and extractor, there is also a filter named mysqlsessions.  This filter looks at events and modifies them to generate a pseudo-session ID, which is necessary to avoid problems with temporary tables when applying transactions from multiple sessions.  It is just one of a number of filters that Tungsten provides.

Components like appliers, filters, extractors, and stores have individual configuration elsewhere in the tungsten.properties file.  Here's an example of configuration for a MySQL binlog extractor.  (Note that Tungsten 1.3 can now read binlogs directly as files or relay them from a master server.) 

# MySQL binlog extractor properties.  
replicator.extractor.mysql=com.continuent.tungsten.replicator.extractor.mysql.MySQLExtractor
replicator.extractor.mysql.binlog_dir=/var/log/mysql
replicator.extractor.mysql.binlog_file_pattern=mysql-bin
replicator.extractor.mysql.host=logos1-u1
replicator.extractor.mysql.port=3306
replicator.extractor.mysql.user=${replicator.global.db.user}
replicator.extractor.mysql.password=${replicator.global.db.password}
replicator.extractor.mysql.parseStatements=true

# When using relay logs we download from the master into binlog_dir.  This 
# is used for off-board replication. 
#replicator.extractor.mysql.useRelayLogs=false

The thing that makes pipelines really flexible is that the interfaces are completely symmetric.  Components to extract events from MySQL binlog or from a transaction history log have identical APIs.  Similarly, the APIs to apply events are the same whether storing events in a log or applying to a slave.  Pipelines can tie together practically any sequence of extract, filter, and apply operations you can think of. 

Here are diagrams of a couple of useful single-stage pipelines. 

The "dummy" pipeline reads events directly from MySQL binlogs and just throws them away.  This sounds useless but in fact it is rather convenient.  You can use the dummy pipeline check whether your binlogs are good.  If you add filters you can also use a dummy pipeline to report on what is in the binlog.  Finally, you can use it as a quick and non-intrusive check to see if Tungsten can handle the data in your binlog--a nice way to ensure you can migrate smoothly. 

Here's the dummy pipeline definition:

# Generic pipelines. 
replicator.pipelines=master,slave,direct, dummy
...
# Dummy pipeline has single stage that writes from binlog to bit-bucket. 
replicator.pipeline.dummy=binlog-to-dummy
replicator.pipeline.dummy.autoSync=true

replicator.stage.binlog-to-dummy=com.continuent.tungsten.replicator.pipeline.SingleThreadStageTask
replicator.stage.binlog-to-dummy.extractor=mysql
replicator.stage.binlog-to-slave.applier=dummy

The "direct" pipeline fetches events directly from a master MySQL server using client log requests over the network and applies them immediately to a slave.  I use this pipeline to test master-to-slave performance, but it's also very handy for transferring a set of SQL updates from the binlog of any master to any slave on the network.  For instance, you can transfer upgrade commands very efficiently out of the binlog of a successfully upgraded MySQL server to other servers on the network.  You can also use it to "rescue" transactions that are stuck in the binlog of a failed master.  That is starting to be genuinely useful. 

The definition of the direct pipeline is already in the default replicator.properties.mysql template that comes with Tungsten 1.3, so it is not necessary to repeat it here.  You can just download the software (open source version is here) and have a look at it yourself.  There's almost more documentation than people can bear--look here to find a full set.  Version 1.3 docs will be posted shortly on the website and are already available for commercial customers.   As usual you can also view the source code on SourceForge.net. 

Pipelines belong to a set of major feature improvements to Tungsten to support SaaS and large enterprise deployments.  Some of the other features include fast event logging directly to disk (no more posting events in InnoDB), low-latency WAN transfer, multi-master replication support, and parallel replication.  Stay tuned!

Opening Day: Creative Renewal or Time-Suck of Distraction?

I live just six blocks from Wrigley Field, and being a life-long Cubs fan I felt compelled to at least mingle with the crowd on opening day this week. So I hit the streets of blue early Monday afternoon. But I went also mulling over a big question for me this season: Is spending Cubs time helping or killing my creative life? I know willing to embrace failure is certainly a key creativity principle--and the Cubs embody that more than any other sports team on the planet (more than 100 years without a World Series title)! But watching games and following stats and news can also be a huge time-suck of distraction as a passive spectator, taking away from the time and focus I need to be a creative actor in the world. What to do this year? Well, now was the time to check it out.

Soon I joined the hundreds of folks in the streets surrounding the ballpark, excitement brimming, as I watched a television interview (that's Sarah Kustok from Comcast Sports interviewing a fan--already some creative interaction!), and headed over to Murphy's Bleachers, one of the classic bars kitty-corner from the stadium, where I thought I might find a friend of mine. It was packed and, of course, filled with people who had started drinking before noon. "What happens at Wrigley stays at Wrigley," I heard one guy slur. I liked that notion--that anything is possible--but my stomach cringed at seeing the tables and tables of already-consumed beer (see pic). I certainly believe that drinking can at times stimulate the creative process, but overall the scene reminded of the lost hours (including the debilitating hangover) that ultimately tend to numb rather than enliven my creative life.

Now, I wasn't planning to go into the stadium, but I couldn't resist querying some of the scalpers and soon learned that I might be able to snag a cheaper ticket than I had imagined, maybe even face value. As I debated with myself whether I could afford the time, I weaved through the crowds, past the Harry Caray statue, among the smiling children and the long-suffering but happy-at-the-moment grandparents, to the lines of eager fans waiting to get in. Hmmm. And as fate would have it, I somehow came across a regular guy with an extra ticket who was willing to give it away for a song. After a brief negotiation, I would join him for the irresistible price of just $20! Holy Cow! I was in.

And look at these seats! Magnificently located on the first base side, a beautiful cool day, a Pepsi in my hand, this was nice. I know a hell of a lot more about the Cubs and their players than I should admit, so it was only minutes before I had already made friends with three other guys sitting around me, discussing last year's hitting slump, the worst fielder ever (Soriano), and the potential of the pitching staff. Before we knew it, the Cubs homered once and then twice, and soon we had a victory on opening day, baby!

Now the truth is, baseball is not that exciting. It helps when you know the players and strategy, but even given that I often start to get antsy by the 6th inning. So why do I go? What do I care? Again, I ask, is it worth the brain space and the time?

There is something wonderful about being a Cubs fan, which connects you in spirit to millions of people around the world. There is something about the taste of possibility on your tongue, the stirring of creativity embodied by the "It's Gonna Happen" signs that set a vision of the future. It helps me imagine a different world, where the Cubs are victors and our decades of suffering can be transformed with a swing of the bat and a final strike out pitch. But. But. But. It's heresy, I know, but coming out on opening day has confirmed for me that I have to make a change this year. Say it ain't say so, millions might carp, but I have come to this conclusion. I need to get out on my own field more this year. I have to be more of a creator. Cubs, I love you, but I can't do this anymore.

Apple Creativity and Innovation in Business Case Studies

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index.

• iPad - Best 2010 Innovation
• iPod - Apple's Best Innovation
• iPod driving Apple to Number One Innovative Company
• Apple iPad will ignite the Ebook readers market
• Apple is poised to sell at least 4 million iPads in 2010
• HP Slate challenges Apple iPad
• Ease-of-use, fun to use, coolness & intuitive design - Who wins?
  
• How can Apple turnaround iPod Sales Growth?
• Five steps Apple must take to create a turnaround for iPod Sales
• Nike and Apple working out at a Gym near you
• More customers to use Nike + iPod as they work out in the Gym
• Apple iPhone Rising - Top Ten Innovations
• Top Ten innovations introduced in iPhone by Apple
• Apple launches iPhone 3G S - Speediest, Smartest, Sexiest Smartphone
• iPhone 3G S ushers in new world of creativity and smartphone innovations
• Apple iPhone Goes Global - Super Fast iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3G: half price, twice as fast and in over 70 countries
• Innovator Apple grows strong on surging iPhone demand
• iPhone revs total $4.6B, making Apple the third-largest handset maker
  
• iPhone 2.0 scores a Trifecta with developers, customers & partners
• iPhone 2.0 innovations have created new opportunities and possibilities
• Apple Kicks Off 2008 with Bold New Innovations
• Apple introduces new innovations for 2008
• Apple introduces new iPhone and new iPod Touch
• Apple doubles up on new iPhone and iPod Touch
• Apple iPhone Post Launch Innovations
• Apple iPhone projections in 2007 and beyond
• Apple in 2007 - Stupendous Growth
• Apple is firing on all four cylinders - iPod, iPhone, iMac, Leopard
• Apple trading off Leopard for iPhone
• Why Apple chose to postpone Leopard and launch iPhone on time?
• Apple - Google Juggernaut - Besting Microsoft?
• If Apple and Google merged, can they beat Microsoft?
• What drives Apple's Innovation and Growth?
• Creativity and Innovation driven by inner conviction about outside world

Apple Innovation eBook - Innovation Strategy, Innovation Process, Innovation Model

How does Apple, the #1 innovative company in the world, innovate and create game-changing innovations such as the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad and more? What is Apple's secret recipe for innovation success?

What is Apple's Innovation Strategy? Download these Apple Innovation eBook insights and learn to be like Apple... like Steve Jobs, the innovator and CEO of Apple.


― "There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote
that I love. 'I skate to where the puck
is going to be, not where it has been.'
And we've always tried to do that at
Apple. Since the very very beginning.
And we always will." —Steve Jobs

Apple innovates through:
• Creativity and Innovation
• Innovation in Products
• Innovation in Business Model
• Innovation in Customer Experience
• Innovation and Leadership
• Steve Jobs Legendary Leadership

This Apple Innovation Strategy ebook provides insights, strategy, best practices, facts and much more...

Apple has built an Innovation Factory – one that harnesses creativity in its people, stimulating new ideas, and launching successful, profitable new innovations... Apple leverages its diverse culture, innovation processes, partners and networks to seize the new opportunities in the marketplace and grow its business...exponentially…

How did Apple do it?
• Increase revenue more than 400% in 8 years…
• Increase net profit more than 650% in 8 years…
• Increase market cap more than twenty times to over $170 billion and
counting…

Buy Apple's Innovation Strategy and learn to innovate, like Apple, today!!

The Apple Innovation eBook has been revised in 2011, and includes new insights, iPad innovation, Steve Jobs interview and more!

Apple Innovation eBook is brought to you by Creativity And Innovation Driving Business based in Irvine, CA.

Address:
111 Academy Way, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92617
Main Phone #:
1-949-288-6880 (call-in only)

Selected references:

• Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
• Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
• Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
• The Innovation Index
• Top 50 innovative companies in the world

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index.

Dean Kamen, Captain Creative

I don't know all that much about Dean Kamen, known most commonly as the inventor of the Segway, but I believe he's the closest thing we have to an American Creative Superhero. He demonstrated his latest miracle invention--the robotic LUKE (as in Skywalker) arm--this week on the Stephen Colbert Show. Check out this more in-depth talk/demonstration he gives for TED, which shows even more what Luke can do (Video here).

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Dean Kamen
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Kamen is one of those rare inventor-entrepreneur-visionaries of a generation, like Buckminster Fuller of the the previous, who uses his mental genius for good, despite a world not always ready to receive. His Slingshot is a good example; it's a water purifying system that is portable, ecologically friendly and miraculous, able to literally turn urine, dirty puddles and who-knows-what-else into drinking water, with minimal energy requirements. It can literally transform the developing world. Unfortunately, our short-term, profit-motivated mindset derails this kind of innovation (alas, there ain't much money in it), so no wide distribution. Yet. Check out this video for more on the Slingshot.

The more you learn about Kamen (and please share what you know), the more he looms like a character from Marvel Comics, commandeering a grand fortress of a company (I believe an island, jets and helicopters are involved). After years of financial success and accumulated, cutting-edge technical resources, he is able to focus on world-changing innovations like few others, uniquely positioned to take on projects and requests he wants to pursue. Let's hope he doesn't get lured to dark side like the outrageously wealthy, power-thirsty inventors Super/Spider/Batman often battles.

For now, his company Deka Research and Development continues to take on pressing problems of our time, particularly those involving solar energy and water. As an inventor, Kamen holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. He is the founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a program that includes the greatest student robot competition of our time, which will take place in just seven days in front of more than 50,000 fans at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. May the Creative Force continue to be with him.