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I wonder how this meshes with Japanese innovation and creativity - which require risks, mistakes, trial-and-error? Clayton Christensen on Sony's founder:
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2003/1013/082_2.html ...the original battery-powered pocket transistor radio, launched in 1955, and
the first portable solid-state black-and-white television, in 1960. Plus:
videocassette players, portable video recorders, the now-ubiquitous Walkman and
3.5-inch floppy disk drives, launched in 1980.
How did Sony find these foothold applications? Morita and a trusted group of
about five associates observed and questioned what people really were trying
to get done. They looked for ways that miniaturized, solid-state electronics
might help a population of less skilled and less affluent people to accomplish,
more conveniently and at less expense, the jobs they were already trying to get
done through awkward, unsatisfactory means.
There's other innovations, such as Honda inventing the trail bike (there were previously only road motorcycles).As an example of creativity, there's Hayao Miyazaki. While he is a perfectionist, there must be some tolerance for experiment, exploration, discovery - else there can be no original creation. |
Japanese aren't copying they are embracing an idea, comprehending it, and improving it. They could be inspired by anything, like any of us, but there has been much to be inspired by in the US over the last 50 some years. We all do this, but while americans focus on price per unit, Japanese focus on quality.
As I've mentioned elsewhere the subtle but powerful core difference between Japanese and Americans (quality vs quantity) form the foundation of two different emergent systems. Although it sounds simple it is a profound difference at scale.
This is why Japanese are very innovative, but most americans simply don't see it. Japanese had broadcast HD in the early 90s, and phones that could play TV 6 years before the iPhone.