New Networks Foster Invention and Innovation

Digital Age Paul Reveres have been warning the world lately about the impending Internet lock-down that they fear will result from the growth in popularity of permission-based development environments such as Apple's iPhone. Unlike the World Wide Web where everybody is free to execute their ideas without having to obtain prior permission from an infrastructure provider, Apple requires developers to submit their iPhone applications for approval before they can be offered to the public. Critics, such as Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain, worry that such regimes could suffocate the freewheeling nature of the Web and kill the innovation that emerges from such an environment. While innovation on the software layer may be on the endangered phenomenon list, Tuesday's presentations at the Supernova technology conference made it clear that today's broadband and social networks are enabling other kinds of innovations and collaborations.