1) Tim O'Reilly discusses innovation and the future at a MakerFaire event. He talks about how O'Reilly identifies innovative technologies and helps spread information to allow others to follow. 2) O'Reilly uses a methodology of observing early adopters, identifying emerging trends, and considering possible consequences to understand the future. 3) Innovation works like a four-cylinder engine, with the stages being: having fun with new ideas, thinking big about changing the world, building businesses and products, and maintaining ecosystems to create more value than is captured.

2. Innovation and the Future
Tim O’Reilly
June 25, 2011
MakerFaire Kansas City

3. I started out as a computer book publisher

9. What We Really Do At O'Reilly
 Find interesting technologies and people
innovating from the edge
 Amplify their effectiveness by spreading the
information needed for others to follow them.
 Our goal: “Changing the world by spreading the
knowledge of innovators.”

10. “The future is here. It’s
just not evenly
distributed yet.”
- William Gibson

11. O’Reilly Radar Methodology
 We “watch the alpha geeks” and think about the
futures they are already living in
 We then look for trend data that tells us that a
particular future is becoming mainstream
 We do our best to think about possible
consequences

12. O’Reilly Radar Methodology
 We “watch the alpha geeks” and think about the
futures they are already living in
 We then look for trend data that tells us that a
particular future is becoming mainstream
 We do our best to think about possible
consequences

13. Innovation as a four-cylinder engine
Image source: http://www.musicombustion.com/engineering.html

14. 1. Have fun: How cool would it be to FLY?!!??

15. Have fun! OMG, I could have my own computer!

16. Fly solo across the Atlantic

17. Put a man on the moon

21. “thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season”
- T.S. Eliot

22. 2. Think big: “A PC on every desk and in every home.”

23. Think big: “Access to all the world’s information”

25. 3. Figure out how to actually build a business

26. 4. The power of platforms: Create value for others

27. 4. The power of platforms: Create value for others
2

28. http://www.google.com/economicimpact/

31. Create more value than you capture

32. The Firing Order of the Innovation Engine
 First cylinder: Have fun!
 Second cylinder: “Hey, we can change the world!”
 Third cylinder: Build products, business models,
companies, and entire industries
 Fourth cylinder: Maintain your ecosystem: Create
more value than you capture

33. So where are people having fun today?

39. “It’s easier to invent the future
than it is to predict it.”
- Alan Kay

40. Reinventing the Faire
Low Tech Meets High Tech

41. For More Information
 Twitter: @timoreilly, @oreillymedia, @make
 Blog: http://radar.oreilly.com
 My personal archive: http://tim.oreilly.com
 Maker Movement: http://makezine.com