The hidden path to innovation

This is one of the most interesting articles i've seen on innovation.

The Weakest Link

by Nicholas G. Carr

A product’s vulnerabilities can point the way to lucrative new business opportunities.

When you think of modern aircraft, you think of big things: massive turbine engines, great expanses of sheet metal, elaborate electronic and hydraulic systems. Yet it was a very small thing — a two-cent piece of rubber — that played a crucial role in determining the shape and speed of today’s planes. And the story of that piece of rubber reveals an important lesson about the path of technological advances and the focus of business innovation.