Innovation

I've been thinking a lot about innovation lately.

There are lots of areas where innovation is strong and advancing. I think of cellular phones, as one great example. Companies like Apple lead the pack, forcing the entire industry to innovate. And it seems like it is a good thing for all of us. I also think of Google and the area of internet services, with major innovation in how we use email and how we search the web. There is also, and this has traditionally been the case, a lot of innovation in the area of art and fashion. You can always get art and fashion that is not innovative, but it is not hard to find people who are pushing new boundaries and forging new styles in these areas.

There are also a lot of sectors where innovation is stagnate or happening at a slow pace. I think of the American automobile industry. There has not been much great innovation in a while and when there is any it is in response to foreign innovation. I also think of telecommunication companies and their service offerings. For instance, home telephone service has had little innovation in quite a while. Plain old telephone is plain old telephone and doesn't look like it is going to change any time soon (which is probably why so many younger people are willing to go without it, now).

So, what areas need innovation? This is my question. And, how can I contribute to these areas, not being a CEO of a major company? How can I use my talent and drive to affect change in these areas that desperately need innovation? These are the questions I've been exploring, lately...

A Better Browser

This is my PSA to help the world rid itself of bad browsers:

So I just wrapped up major development on a 3-month project and I am stoked to be done. But, I am also more and more convinced of Internet Explorer's ... deficiency.

Now there are the normal "quirks" with IE that every web designer runs into (e.g., version 7's inline-block problem). These "features" are annoying and I have to deal with them often, but at least there are a number of known work-arounds to help me.

There is one major thing that I've come to see about IE in these past 3 months for which there are no work-arounds. It is dreadfully slow and clunky. Things that will run smoothly and look great on Chrome, Safari and Firefox, will look awful slow on IE. This last project uses a lot of DHTML and it has a really high level of user interaction, so naturally there are a lot of animations and fading of images, etc. IE just cannot handle it and I've had to remove a lot of animations for people who are visiting the site with IE.

So, now that the browser Google Chrome is celebrating its second birthday, I thought I'd share my thoughts about browsers once again. Use Chrome if you want a fast, responsive, useful browser. I particularly enjoy the streamlined UI. Switch between Chrome and IE and you'll notice MAJOR speed enhancements. I love Chrome and you will, too.