77 Million Innovations (english version)

I have to confess I am old enough to vividly remember how Roxy Music made its entry into the pop music scene. It must have been early in the seventies, the steam machine had just been invented and most homes were still lighted by candles. Ceramics teacher Brian Ferry thought the moment was right to create an entirely new band, as an eclectic mix of post-modern noise, absurd and yet semi-literary lyrics, powerhouse glam rock and a totally over-the-top visual presentation.

Now why had nobody thought of that before?

Quite an innovative band, they were and with classics as Virginia Plane and Do the Strand (“It’s the new way, that’s why we say, do the strand”) they shook the fundaments of the establishment. Undoubtedly, the most eye-catching band member was Brian Eno - sort of a 70’s version of Lord of the Rings’ Legolas – who produced the weirdest sounds out of a primeval synthesizer. It’s this same Eno who – 35 years later – has created a spectacular digital work of art that is both a great illustration of the power of mashing up through new technology and, even more important, contains an important innovation lesson: don’t just try to improve or renew what you were already doing, reinvent your fundaments instead. These are the real breakthroughs.

Voor de ware liefhebber de rest hier op Capgemini's CTO blog.