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PC World's 20 Most Innovative Products of 2006
Craig Sender writes "PC World has put together a list of their choices for the 20 Most Innovative Products of 2006. The List includes Office 2007, Nintendo Wii, Sony Reader, Sony PlayStation 3, the BlackBerry Pearl, and some other interesting choices."
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,128176 /printable.html
Ridiculous that the article is stretched across 8 pages.
1. Microsoft Office 2007
2. Intel Core 2 Duo
3. Parallels Desktop for Mac
4. Nintendo Wii
5. Samsung 32GB SSD
6. Sony Reader
7. YouOS
8. Dell XPS M2010
9. Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB
0. T-Mobile Dash
Intel/Microsoft != Innovation. Their products might be the most successful in the year, but certainly not innovative.
While the features of the Olympus E-330 are new for a digital SLR (live view and electronic dust cleaner) , Panasonic's DMC-L1 has the same features described as #14 most innovative product. This isn't surprising at all, since Panasonic and Olympus share technology, including the Four Thirds lens mount. In fact, it would have been better to list Four Thirds instead of a specific camera, since it's a cross-platform lens system specifically for digital cameras.
Lets look at this list...
1. Microsoft Office 2007
Nothing innovative here - GUI office productivity suites have been around for decades - MS Word was the innovation on the Apple MacIntosh - but that was before MS released a usable version of MS Windows!
2. Intel Core 2 Duo
Where is the innovation here? The Intel Core 2 Duo is merely two CPUs on a single chip. Duo is neither the first 64bit processor, nor does it share resources between cores, nor does it have an onboard RAM controller. for all the above look to AMD's CPUs.
3. Parallels Desktop for Mac
Running Windows software on the Mac is not a new thing - especially now that the Mac is being sold using Intel hardware. Neither is using virtualisation software to run Windows on other platforms. For years it has been possible to run Windows on Big Blue's mainframes, and on *nix using such applications as VMware.
4. Nintendo Wii
Truly innovative interface - completely new design for use in a completely new way with a completely different range of games.
5. Samsung 32GB SSD
Using Flash EPROM for mobile storage of user data is not new. Neither is the incrementing of the maximum size available. What is new is the replacement of a mechanical permanent storage device with a solid state storage device that may yet prove to be not yet as reliable as a HDD.
6. Sony Reader
Truly innovative device that enables electronic texts to be read as easily and as casually if they were a proper book, and with a very easy UI. Only problem is that it uses a proprietary file format.
7. YouOS
Using a browser for remote desktop access is not a new development.
8. Dell XPS M2010
Portable computers have been around for decades (predating even the Mac). Wireless keyboards are not new, nor is a DVD player, nor is a 20" flat screen. Nothing new there - except the hefty weight.
9. Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB
Yes - innovative method of writing data onto a HDD. But the fact of increased storage capacity is nothing new. HDDs have been increasing storage capacity for many decades.
10. T-Mobile Dash
QWERTY keyboard not new. 1.3 megapixel camera - not new. Wireless - not new.
Additional RAM storage - not new (but close). Amount of built in RAM - definitely not innovative.
11. Pioneer Inno
In one form or another a "Real Live radio receiver" that can also record onto some sort of storage medium has been around since the '70s.
13. Sony BWU-100A Blu-Ray Disc Rewritable Drive
Re-writeable optical discs - nothing new here.
14. Olympus EVolt E-330
Digital camera with LCD display - definitely nothing new here.
15. Google SketchUp
3D software is not new. Free (as in Libre or as in Beer) is also not new. Perhaps the ease of use is what is new.
16. Sony PlayStation 3
Games consoles have been around since the '70s.
17. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100
Two words... Palm Treo. Enough said.
18. Rhapsody 4.0
One word... Ipod.
19. Logitech NuLooq
Different. Cross between a joystick and a mouse and a rollerball. I wouldn't mind trying it out if I ever came across one in a shop.
20. Shure E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones
Noice cancelling headsets have been around for years. Nothing new there.
So where is the true innovation? 19, 15, 9, 6, 4. That's only 5 out of 20.
This was in Lotus Notes for a long time now.
In related news: Ton Roosendaal under investigation for illegaly altering the timeline. The director of TBI was terse: "The fact that Blender 3D contains a ribbon type interface predating MS Office 2007 made us suspicious, the fact that PC World named the ribbon interface in MS Office 2007 the top innovation of 2006 confirmed our worst fears."
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.