If you really want to innovate, then endeavor to make a life, not a living.We achieve greatness when we pursue our passions, and that which will make an impact.Just remember:”Greatness follows those who lead the way.”- Braden KelleyHappy Innovating!

Yesterday Clearwire and Sprint agreed to partner together to build out a nationwide WiMax network instead of competing. As a consumer this feels very anti-competitive, but hey, call something a partnership and you can get away with anything.This Seattle Times article states that Clearwire will focus on building out access for 115 million people in small and medium cities, and Sprint will focus on building out access for 185 million people in the 50 largest cities. They hope to have WiMax access available to 100 million people by the end of next year. There was no mention in the article when they hope to complete the network. Paired with Sprint’s 3G network, mobile data subscribers will have the ability to use WiMax when available and switch to 3G when no WiMax signal is available. Clearwire started with an external access device, but recently obtained FCC approval for a PCMCIA …

For a television advertisement to be effective, do you need to lay out everything for the viewer and make it obvious? Or, is an advertisement more memorable if you let the viewer connect the dots themselves?Here are two examples of television advertisements that promote the product in a slightly more intellectual/emotional way that promotes engagement and curiousity:WindPeopleDid they engage you? Or should the advertiser just have gotten straight to the point?

From a body of work I currently have in development:Continuous innovation requires that innovation is placed at the center of the organization and that all parts of the organization are changed to support it. To effectively place innovation at the center of the organization, people must know what innovation is, what it looks like in their organization, and how they can contribute. Most people easily confuse invention with innovation, and wrongly chase invention in the name of innovation. Let’s look at the two side by side to clear up the confusion from a common source, the American Heritage Dictionary:Invention – A discovery, a findingInnovation – The act of introducing something newIn short, invention is coming up with a great idea, but innovation is the act of introducing that invention successfully to the world. Innovation is truly about transforming the useful seed of an invention into something valuable.For more on this … Continue reading →

There is little doubt now that the telecommunications industry is a tumultous and precarious place to be. On the wireline side, baby bells and cable companies are engaged in a necessary but costly arms race. Both are forced to invest in increasing broadband capacity and coverage while simultaneously facing increasing competition from wireless service providers. At the same time, baby bells and cable companies are invading each other’s space with baby bells beginning to offer television service, and cable companies offering voice services via VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) as part of their offer.In the past couple of years, we have seen the rise of the triple play bundle:Multi-channel TelevisionInternetTelephoneAnd the rise of the quadruple play through MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) or partnerships:Mobile PhoneMulti-channel TelevisionInternetTelephoneThe wireless carriers are smart to sit back and let the baby bells and the cable companies (and even the satellite operators) fight it out … Continue reading →

Here is an invention that never became an innovation (for sale on eBay):Want to buy a car with disappearing doors? (check out the video)Up next week – “Invention versus Innovation”How do you think invention and innovation are different?I’ll give you my point of view next week.