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There's a difference between invention and innovation.
A lot of times they are used interchangeably, and that's completely valid to use one term
instead of another, but invention
really is has a meaning to all of us - we think about the invention of the light bulb
or the television or the transistor or the integrated circuit,
things like that - those primary fundamental inventions that have
changed the way the world exists.
An invention is a very specific thing that's recognized for something like a patent
it generally has to be a non-obvious idea or new solution
to a problem. It's not been anticipated before.
The problem doesn't necessarily have to be
an ideal problem, it doesn't have to be a practical solution,
but generally an invention is something that solves the problem; hasn't been done before.
Now innovation can mean the same thing but innovation is a little bit different in that
it's primarily addressing a goal, a goal to solve a problem in a certain way.
It can be an invention, it can be a string of inventions,
or it can just be taking ideas together this certain way that solves
some given problems - the problems at the heart, in my opinion, of what innovation is.
As we move down the road in this field, in the semiconductor field,
in the field of microelectronics,
there have been many opportunities for invention
and innovation, clever ways of solving problems or clever ways to come up with
solutions that haven't been
applied before. It will become
- or has become and will continue to become - more difficult to find those new, fresh
ideas, those new inventions. Innovation allows you to use everything
in the past, applying it in different ways.
So I feel the reason - and I think there is plenty of room left for innovation,
plenty of room left for
invention as well, although the inventions in this field
may not be as
fundamental as they have in the past.