A few weeks ago, I participated in a panel discussion at the RVC SoftEdge 2003 conference in New York entitled “Innovation or Commoditization: Can Open Source Meet Technology Innovation?” with Marc Fleury from Jboss Group, David Axmark from MySQL AB, and Richard Gabriel from Sun. The panel discussion was covered by eWEEK.
Although Dr. Fleury steered much of the discussion through clear mastery of the art of the sound bite, the real issue for me was, as the title of the panel suggested, are innovation and commoditization really at odds?
As I said during the panel discussion, I don’t think innovation and commoditization are at odds at all, although those to whom “innovation” means refining the wheel over and over to their own benefit might lead you to believe otherwise.
Here’s an example: Many say the commoditizers of hardware have hindered innovation. Yet, what did the commodization of hardware enable? The proliferation of millions of PCs around the world. And what did that enable, in turn? The proliferation of the Internet, which spurred one of the great periods of innovation of the 20th century, a period of innovation that continues to the present day with, among other things, the proliferation of commodity (i.e., open-source) software.
And what will that enable, in turn? We’ll see. Here’s one example, and another, and another.
So, are innovation and commoditization really at odds? You decide.
To state the obvious: commoditization on one level enables innovation on the next level.
The web technology hasn’t changed fundamentally since the first graphics capable Mosaic release. But the provided applications boomed.
Innovation pushes the frontier. Commoditization is a sure sign, that a particular frontier is broken. Since live on the frontier is harsh, that is also a good sign for consumers. Enabling them to get products that won’t be obsolete next tuesday.