Recently blogfriend Elizabeth was paid a visit by Tom Shelley who is an 11-month-old member of my favourite newspaper. Tom represents a group of Economist staffers that have gathered together for Project Redstripe. The group has been tasked with coming up with The Next Big Thing™: “to develop something that is innovative and web-based and bring it to market.” They are calling for ideas from the public and “winners” are to receive a 6-month subscription to The Economist.

I don’t get it. Can you really innovate just for the sake of innovation? Don’t you need a goal or a specific design problem? I not so sure about this, and neither is the Slashdot crowd. But, as someone pointed out this is exactly what venture capital firms do. Many good ideas are had everyday, but having the capital and resources to see these ideas through is a completely different matter.

Churchill said “We must beware of needless innovation, especially when guided by logic.” Then again, equally eminent Homer Simpson said “I’ve tried nothing and I’m all out of ideas!”

I wish Tom and his crew the best of luck. I encourage any CA readers to submit their ideas.

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