Comment by rdl | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rdl | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

> The key point is that people like Mark don't innovate.

James and Orville Wright didn't invent the airplane. Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile. Thomas Edison didn't invent the lightbulb. Ray Croc didn't "invent" McDonald's. James Walton didn't invent EDI or data-driven retailing. etc.

But as an investor, you sure wouldn't go broke investing in them. That's the kind of person you want to set up shop in your town if you care about the economic benefits, not necessarily another PhD developing technology years before its time. ("MIT graduates develop technology. Harvard graduates hire MIT graduates and build businesses." was the old saying.)

I think Boston's non-life-sciences tech scene is doomed for a variety of reasons, but thinking everyone needs to invent one amazing new scientific advance ("idea") to build a world-changing business, vs. lots of correct, incremental decisions along the way ("execution"), is a major reason.

I didn't say "invent." I said "innovate." All of the people you have listed at least created products of unambiguous value to society.

And your point is that Facebook isn't a product "of unambiguous value to society" I suppose? And that Zuckerberg's supposed lack of "innovation" is the cause of this deficiency?

Facebook may not be your thing, but I'd have to say the fact that tens of millions of people enjoy the benefits that Facebook brings to their lives, enough to visit the site multiple times a day pretty much proves its value to society.

And I believe pretty strongly that taking ideas that were innovated by other people and improving upon them counts as innovation in its own right. Facebook may not have done anything earth-shatteringly new, but what it did do, it did better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/technology/01facebook.html

Actually, Facebook has changed how hundreds of millions of people interact with each other.

I find it curious that the haters always want to take facebook down a notch for not being innovative. I haven't logged into my account in several months, but I still respect what facebook represents in the evolution of the Internet.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com