Many writers such as Christensen have pointed out that innovation tends to come from outside an industry. Containerized shipping is a classic example. It was developed by Malcom McLean, and industry outsider. That is why cold fusion is unlikely to be developed by mainstream energy companies.
Innovation not only comes from people outside the mainstream, it often comes from places physically removed from the mainstream, such as Dayton, Ohio. In the case of cold fusion, the biggest academic project is a U. Missouri, not MIT, CalTech, Georgia Tech or any of the other leading technology institutions. U. Missouri is a great place. It was founded by Thomas Jefferson. Robert Duncan is a great guy. But still, it is physically removed from the mainstream and the Big Gun east and west coast institutions. The 19th century industrial revolution was centered in England, but many of the inventions and ideas came from Scotland. Anyway, here are some cynical but thought provoking ideas about this subject -- http://blog.findings.com/post/20527246081/how-we-will-read-clay-shirky As this author puts it: "Institutions will try to preserve the problem for which they are the solution." I like the quote about the PDF format being "where data goes to die." I have often had an uneasy feeling that is true, and it bothers me since everything at LENR-CANR is in PDF format. I try to hang on to original sources such as .doc files and graphic images. QUOTES: Publishing is not evolving. Publishing is going away. Because the word “publishing” means a cadre of professionals who are taking on the incredible difficulty and complexity and expense of making something public. That’s not a *job* anymore. That’s a *button*. There’s a button that says “publish,” and when you press it, it’s done. . . . The original promise of the e-book was not a promise to the reader, it was a promise to the publisher: “We will design something that appears on a screen, but it will be as inconvenient as if it were a physical object.” This is the promise of the portable document format, where data goes to die, as well. Institutions will try to preserve the problem for which they are the solution. Now publishers are in the business not of overcoming scarcity but of manufacturing demand. And that means that almost all innovation in creation, consumption, distribution and use of text is coming from outside the traditional publishing industry.
