Nice analysis. I would add that innovations are profitable inventions. Free markets are essential in determining if value has been created or not. No markets, no knowledge about value. Based on patent analysis, only about 3 percent of inventions become innovations.
Invention is creating the first instance of a technology. It is usually a prototype or an idea.
Innovation is the early process of iterative improvement so it becomes a useful product that you can build a company around.
Diffusion is how the product spreads through society.
And about Edison, I find it ironic that he invented and innovated the first electrical grid, which is far more important than a light bulb, but no one remembers that! They always think that all he did was invent a light bulb.
Nice analysis. I would add that innovations are profitable inventions. Free markets are essential in determining if value has been created or not. No markets, no knowledge about value. Based on patent analysis, only about 3 percent of inventions become innovations.
I like to use the following terminology:
Invention is creating the first instance of a technology. It is usually a prototype or an idea.
Innovation is the early process of iterative improvement so it becomes a useful product that you can build a company around.
Diffusion is how the product spreads through society.
And about Edison, I find it ironic that he invented and innovated the first electrical grid, which is far more important than a light bulb, but no one remembers that! They always think that all he did was invent a light bulb.