AbsolutelyNew Blog

The latest open innovation winners: Netflix and Phillips

We were very psyched to learn that Netflix this week awarded a $1 million prize to a team of people who invented an algorithm that delivers a 10% improvement in predicting what movies customers will want to see. This ends an open innovation competition that took three years, with 40,000 teams from 186 countries, to break the critical 10% hurdle.

Netflix has already announced a follow-up competition.

Meanwhile Dutch light-bulb maker Phillips may be the winner of a U.S. Department of Energy’s $10 million “L Prize” open innovation competition—yesterday it was the first entry in the government’s contest to invent a more efficient 60-watt bulb. To win, government testing will need to confirm that it meets some very strict criteria including:

• Reproduces the amount and color of light from a 60-watt incandescent bulb, while using only 10 watts of power
  
• Lasts 25,000 hours, which is ~25x longer than a standard bulb
  
• 75% or more of the bulb is made or assembled in the U.S.
  
• Free of the negatives of today’s compact fluorescent bulbs—ie: no polluting mercury
  

Looks like the Dutch may soon get credit for lighting up something other than, well, you know.

More importantly, there are many, many more such contests and prizes out there. So as you’re inventing, especially if you’re working in more advanced or eco-friendly spaces, definitely do your homework on the contests out there. Invention success is a great light at the end of the tunnel… but oh, how much sweeter it would be if you could win big prize money too.

Here are links to newspaper reporting on the Netflix competition and Phillips submission.

Invention lessons from Apple’s new products

Did you see the new line of goodies Apple recently unveiled? Let's just say they’re super cool—so much so that we’re thinking we absolutely, positively need to replace our current ones even though they’re still working well for us.

And by far the coolest of all: the new iPod nano line, which Steve Jobs and his gang have now outfitted with built-in video capability (camera, mic and speaker), FM radio you can pause in Tivo-like fashion, a pedometer, and the ability to send everything effortlessly to your computer.

Super cool, eh? Apple also updated its iPod shuffles, iPod touches, iTunes, and more. And in this there are lessons for every one of us: 

1. Never settle. The Apple folks keep innovating at break-neck speed because they’re determined to stay ahead of competitors big & small. This is a good for all of us to remember each time we’re successful, so we don’t rest on our laurels. It’s also important to note because we all need to try harder if we’re going to unseat the Goliaths—I mean Apples—of the world.

2. Value matters. The new nanos retail for $149-$179 depending on the memory. The new shuffles: $59-$79. Sure, Apple’s making money, but it’s also very consciously pricing the hardware so that it can keep growing its market-share… and keep creating a bigger population of Apple users who will also potentially buy music from its iTunes platform. As you design or update your invention, be sure to keep value in mind too. And remember, it sometimes pays very handsomely to price lower if you can sell a whole lot more units.

3. Create excitement. These Apple products get us pretty excited. But we should also note that they’re not exactly revolutionary—there are already handheld video devices, and other MP3 players that also play radio, for example. But Apple’s exceptional at boiling everything down into simple, sexy features & benefits that are incredibly easy to use, and they hyping them like no other. When it’s time to get the word out on your invention, remember that simple & sexy sells… and we’re not talking about cloaking your device in a salacious bikini.

Our fave sites

People often ask us what websites and blogs we love most. Such a tough question because we follow so many! And the answer has so much to do with individual's preferences and areas of expertise. So rather than flood you with a lengthy list, here are 10 sites (listed alphabetically) that we make a point of visiting very regularly – we’re talking at least once a day, sometimes more – because they dish good content on such a consistent basis:

Cool Hunting (general)

Core 77 (design)

Gizmag (tech)

Gizmodo (tech)

Inventor Spot (invention)

Mary’s Inventors’ Blog (invention)

Popular Science (tech)

Toolmonger (tools)

Seth Godin’s Blog (marketing)

Super Cool Pets (pet products)

Happy surfing. And let us know what else you’re on, that you think we should be checking out too.

Tap into crowdsourcing

Nokia recently told its design team to take a break while it let the general public design a new cell phone. Meanwhile Starbucks created a special website for people to submit tips and ideas... and was reportedly quickly inundated with 17,000+ ideas... just related to coffee.

What’s going on? It’s part of a broader movement to “crowdsourcing,” and it’s growing fast – VERY fast, in fact, since a few people first started talking about in 2006 – because companies are increasingly recognizing the benefits of outside thinking: more new ideas and inventions, obtained at lower cost than if developed internally, every so often unearthing a gem that’s perfectly in synch with a target consumer segment’s wants & needs.

It helps that the web has made crowdsourcing a whole lot easier to handle...

... at least until the ideas pour in and a company needs to review them, which is where crowdsourcing becomes a double-edged sword for the company as well as all the smart people submitting ideas.

So what are you doing to tap into this movement? And what are you doing to go above & beyond everyone else trying to play here, to be seen as a gem among those 17,000+ others who now suddenly believe they also have a real shot at success?

BTW, to bone up on crowdsourcing, you might want to check out these links: Wikipedia, Wired, BusinessWeek.

The latest new "Inventions" from The Onion

We’re serious about helping people with their inventions.  But we also have a sense of humor about our world.  So we were wildly entertained by The Onion’s newly introduced gag gift boxes, each of which combines multiple technologies and benefits into one “inventive” new product.  Our faves: the iFeast Pet-Feeding & MP3 Docking Station and the now sold-out Visor-ganizer.  What's sparking you?

Is it nap time yet?

Having trouble getting an element of your invention to come together?  If so, perhaps some zzz will help... as a number of studies have recently found that sleep helps creativity and the connecting of thoughts, in addition to leaving a person more generally rested.  So much so that a number of innovative companies -– including Google, Cisco and Proctor & Gamble -– have said OK to bed-head and installed napping pods in their offices so employees have a place to get some sleep and recharge their creative batteries.

Check out a really good 9.28.08 New York Times article (registration required) on this.

Would love to write more about this, but... you knew this was coming... I need to take a nap.