Over at SFGate, James Temple calls out Silicon Valley on it’s innovation bullshit:

It’s fairly obvious the region’s business culture and investing philosophy – that is to say, the free market – often doesn’t reward the kind of “deep innovation” Levchin and Thiel trumpet.

The media attention doesn’t go to pasty scientists working tirelessly on something that maybe, might, someday change the world, it goes to the fresh-faced entrepreneur with the game trending in the App Store.

Venture capitalists are eager to cash out on their investments in as few years as possible, which requires products ready to ship and stable financial track records. And the public markets don’t reward big risks; they applaud predictable growth.
It’s not just companies in Silicon Valley that have beaten the word to death. Go to most agency, start-up and consultancy websites and you’ll find “innovation” peppered through all the copy.
Everyone loves to think they’re innovative. Very few are.
link via Matt Mullenweg