Is Innovation Dead Or Are We Just Asleep?

It seems that not a day passes where I don’t hear someone commenting on how all our smartphones are just slightly shinier copies of one another or how company A is ripping off company B and so on.

It got me thinking recently, have we hit the peak of our generation’s innovation with an abrupt halt or are we just climbing the next hill with a future that could give back to the future a run for its money on the horizon? After all, we all wear Nike Air Max providing that you’re happy to live in a shoe, seeing as they are selling for nigh on a mortgage deposit.

In all seriousness though, we have in the last few years seen a significant decline in breathtaking new technology on the consumer front. All phones are coming in with minor and expectable upgrades year on year, consoles just catch up with 3 year old PC’s, VR is still too niche to be widely appreciated and the smartwatch boat sailed before it even properly docked.

With this being said, when we take a glance outside the comfort of our gadget filled bubbles and look at technology on a wider scale, then we noticed the bigger things happening around us. I read an article not long ago about a cranial device that was aimed at users with severe physical disabilities allowing them to move a camera/screen faced robot (reminiscent of Sheldon coopers device for avoiding getting a cold – holla big bang theory fans) that could be moved using the users brainwaves and gave them the ability to explore and interact on an incredible level, opening up a plethora of possibilities for them despite their holdbacks.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, every day I stumble across something new and incredible that someone somewhere is developing that can actually shape and change our future beyond ‘the thinnest laptop ever* (*for the next five minutes)’.

The trouble is, without being that preachy person, we are so caught up in the latest and greatest of our favorite brands and companies, that we don’t venture our research or conversations far enough to actually find out what is going on out there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sat here on my MacBook, typing and listening to Spotify on the latest iPhone. I’m the dictionary definition of a gadget reliant millennial that’s never off the grind, but that’s exactly why I take the time to expand my knowledge.

So next time Apple’s keynote comes up short in your estimations, be at peace knowing that there are people out there shaping us a better future. Chances are it’s not those same people lining their wallets by adding a new number onto the name of a 3 year old device.