When I think of the word "inventor," the first person who jumps to mind is Caractacus Potts, the droll inventor of the 1968 musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." He invents to amuse himself and his children, often with a scant regard for the commercial viability of his inventions.
An awful lot of confusion persists about the precise meaning of "invention" and "innovation." All ambiguity should fade away upon reading this:
[Invention] generates new ideas, patents, prototypes, designs, breakthrough experiments, and working models. Much of the basic research done in R&D labs in corporations and at universities is the invention process. It is research for the sake of building knowledge, which is certainly important, but not done with thought of commercialization.
However, it's innovation that transforms these inventions into commercial products, services, and businesses. When a need is identified and a product or service is developed to meet that need, you have an innovation.
(Via BusinessWeek)People talk about the "invention" of the lightbulb or the "invention" of the iPhone, when in fact neither Thomas Edison nor Steve Jobs were inventors. They both used existing technology in new ways with an eye toward a big market for the result. They were innovators.
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