Actually yea, the modern sense of innovation exists as an idea to serve capital. See: Joseph Schumpeter. The non-capital bound version is simply invention.
> Capital is necessary but not sufficient for innovation.
Yes, this is true. My point was more that innovative products are profitable, not necessarily the novel tool we need. See: smartphones and walled garden app stores. Innovative for sure, but an objectively shittier scenario than one built around the tool people want to use.
I don't see innovation (as in, using market forces to push forward technology) as playing any role in collective problems. The regulated market's popular hope for fighting global emissions with market effects, the carbon tax, will do very little to slow emissions on a global scale. We need to think outside the market to have any optimism.
Interesting take, we definitely would agree on some things. Although, I perhaps would use a broader definition innovation. I wouldn't described it is as purely a market based phenomenon. Open source software is one obvious example of how innovation can occur outside of markets.