i>"There is a village, which is hidden in the shadow of a mountain. Everybody is suffering from a lack of light. One day the eldest of this village leaves for the mountain with a teaspoon in his hands. The others ask him what he intends to do. He replies that he is going to move the mountain. "But you will never succeed" they cry out. "No. I will never succeed. But somebody has to start.", Misty's Big Adventure - Wising Up

There's been a lot going on this week in terms of technology. The innovation waggon has been trundling along at a merry old pace, and so I thought I'd bring you my road map to "true" innovation, which is a lot more than just providing something better, cheaper or quicker than your competitor. It's about three things, so let's look at the first one.

STEP #1: THE IDEA

German students, gor bless 'em have been working on an idea that could net them a bundle. It's an everyday, run-of-the-mill beer mat. But it's not. It's electronic. This little device can detect when a glass is empty, and then send a signal to the bar staff to refill the glass automatically.

This is the first step on the road to innovation. These lads have had the idea, and tested it so they know it works. But an idea is worthless unless you can find someone who's willing to make your dreams into a reality. We've seen plenty of science programs like Tomorrow's World and whatnot, and we're all familiar with the stereotypical beardy scientist who has a new invention that he's sure will revolutionise the way we do...whatever it is he thinks we can do better...or quicker...or without the neighbours complaining about the noise. If you're like me - and you're not - you get all excited and you never hear from them again. That's because many inventions die unless they're gobbled up by a bigger fish. Which brings me to my second step.

STEP #2: MAKING IT HAPPEN

The big players like Sony and Microsoft are already getting into a new technology called "electronic paper", and peripheral devices for phones and PDAs are already in development to start using it. It sounds like something out of a bad novel set in the future, but it's true. E ink have already developed a high contrast, portable, paper-like display device which is made from the same substances as standard paper and ink.

The practical upshot of all this is simply that we get a very lightweight display unit which we can fit in our pockets. But how many people will go for it? It's new and exciting, but it's still just black and white, and I think the average man on the street knows that for the sake of a bit of bulk he could get a better quality display in colour, without making such a dent in his bank balance.

You see, our beardy scientist friend from Tomorrow's World, and his big fish manufacturers still have a long journey ahead of them. He's had the idea, he can make the stuff, but now it needs to work in the real world. OK, there maybe a few thousand who can afford this great new piece of kit, but what about the everyday man on the street?

STEP #3: THE ROLL OUT

After the initial boom, when your new idea has been plastered all over the news, and the great and the good - and Richard Branson - have all queued up to be the first to get their sweaty palms on it, comes the reality. How can this be made affordable, so that everyone can get hold of it?

At this point, our beardy scientist and his big fish cronies are left to their own devices. They're happy because the rich and famous are buying up their goods like there's no tomorrow. But while they're sleeping, someone else is working out how to do it cheaper. And that's the thing. It's great to have an innovative concept, but if you can't maximise the number of people who can use it, it's...a bit pointless.

On Monday 26th of last month, a London-based firm announced the arrival of 24 megabit broadband Internet access for only £24 a month. To put that into perspective, that's nearly 50 times faster than entry level broadband, and between 12 and 24 times faster than the current standard.

At the moment it's only available in the London area, but Be, the company offering it, are planning to roll this out for the rest of the UK's BT customers in the space of a year. This could come as a blow for companies such as Telewest and NTL who use their own, separate telephone and broadband lines. But does it mean that they'll be thinking of offering the same service for around the same price, or will they try to out-price Be? In a few years' time, yes, why not? Because the fact is, the final step in the innovation process constantly repeats: things become cheaper and more accessible with each iteration, until the product becomes obsolete and we start from step one all over again.

So what can we learn from all this guff? Well, I placed a quote at the beginning of this article from one of my favourite bands, Misty's Big Adventure. I think it's a useful little story because it basically explains my point. We may have the idea to make things better, but we've got to fit somewhere in the chain. No-one wants to be the guy with the teaspoon, because he'll never be able to finish what he's started. We'd much rather be the person who comes along and finds a way to do it quicker, and finishes the job. But the fact is, if that man hadn't gone to the mountain in the first place, we'd still be at home twiddling our thumbs.

So my point is this: be a part of innovation in whatever way you can. If you've got an idea, try to make it happen. If you're the one asking "why the hell does this cost so much?" why not stay up one night with a pen and paper and try and work it out? You never know, you might find the answer.

Mark Steadman 06/10/05 For more, visit our web design website at www.msomedia.com

About the author: Mark Steadman is the director of the UK-based web design company MSO Media. Visit www.msomedia.com for more information