What Does Innovation Even Mean Anymore?

IFA Berlin, or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany, and every year companies from around the world sign up to show offtheir latest products and innovations. But what exactly does an overused word like “innovation” signify today?

- Koh Wanzi and Marcus Wong

Are there any more surprises?

IFA, Europe’s largest consumer electronics trade show, just wrapped up last month. On the show floor, we were treated to an endless parade of the latest shiny gadgets and devices, including everything from smart fridges with 29-inch Windows 10 tablets on their doors to freakishly thin ultra books.

And then there were the booths themselves, which were clearly designed to dazzle and impress. LG even created an OLED tunnel where visitors were treated to all sorts of wondrous vistas, including gracefully undulating humpback whales and stunning views of space. It was, in a word, quite magical.

But the common thread tying all these disparate products and exhibits together was the same underlying motivation. Whether it was being the first to put quantum dot technology in a gaming monitor or create the first ever gaming notebook with a curved screen didn’t quite matter. Everyone just wanted to be seen as a pioneer and innovator. It was really all very impressive, except that we’d already seen a lot of it before. Granted, everything at the show had technically come fresh out of the oven, but it’s easy to say that there were few truly revolutionary things.

Or were there? Given the ubiquity of laptops, smartphones, and myriad other gadgets, it’s probably a risky move to make bold changes to a familiar form factor. But working within these limitations, we’d argue that brands have still managed to bring something new to the table, and we haven’t even accounted for rapid progress in emerging fields like virtual reality. Sometimes, you don’t have to break the entire mold to have a claim to innovation.

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