Seconding smartphone and the many apps that run on it, but not one in particular. Ten years ago few people had their head glued to a phone.
Now, on any public transport (where I live) it's unusual to look up and see someone not looking at their phone.
For many, a smartphone (or, the apps on it, and I don't think the app matters so much, simply the compulsion) is the first thing to check when waking up,; many app makers simply in the business of making an app compulsive.
For many, a valuable conversation or thinking process is interrupted by an ping and 'very important' message for the constantly connected. But that's the norm for this many.
For many more, the smartphone comes before, or completely substitutes, the need for a 'traditional' computer in providing internet connectivity for many different internet use-cases across the globe: from staying in touch to banking to running a business to becoming a celebrity.
'Innovative' is also an interesting choice of word. As an amateur follower of business jargon, 'innovation' wasn't used much in business speak (it certainly existed, but in a different sense than that I observe today). In the 90s and 00s 'creativity' was the buzz-word, hand-in-hand with 'out of the box'. 'Creativity' as a term seems to have fallen off a cliff in usage a little more than 10 years ago, with 'innovation' filling the gap. But unlike creativity, 'innovation' is used to reflect thinking that is very much 'inside the box (or push the edge, but don't get out)' way. Usage of this term is slightly different from the classical dictionary definition. 'Innovation' (today) as a term seems to refers to bringing an idea that already exists to fruition, or combining several pre-existing ideas with some sprinkles on the top, or an incremental process touted as 'the next big thing' when it's what existed before but improved a little/new angle taken - not 'creativity' from the 90s certainly, the term 'innovation' representing a lower risk appetite over the past decade, and a preference of small and frequent change over the traditional one-step 'creative disruption'. Note this is my observed adoption/morphing of the term in business language over the past few years.
Now, on any public transport (where I live) it's unusual to look up and see someone not looking at their phone.
For many, a smartphone (or, the apps on it, and I don't think the app matters so much, simply the compulsion) is the first thing to check when waking up,; many app makers simply in the business of making an app compulsive.
For many, a valuable conversation or thinking process is interrupted by an ping and 'very important' message for the constantly connected. But that's the norm for this many.
For many more, the smartphone comes before, or completely substitutes, the need for a 'traditional' computer in providing internet connectivity for many different internet use-cases across the globe: from staying in touch to banking to running a business to becoming a celebrity.
'Innovative' is also an interesting choice of word. As an amateur follower of business jargon, 'innovation' wasn't used much in business speak (it certainly existed, but in a different sense than that I observe today). In the 90s and 00s 'creativity' was the buzz-word, hand-in-hand with 'out of the box'. 'Creativity' as a term seems to have fallen off a cliff in usage a little more than 10 years ago, with 'innovation' filling the gap. But unlike creativity, 'innovation' is used to reflect thinking that is very much 'inside the box (or push the edge, but don't get out)' way. Usage of this term is slightly different from the classical dictionary definition. 'Innovation' (today) as a term seems to refers to bringing an idea that already exists to fruition, or combining several pre-existing ideas with some sprinkles on the top, or an incremental process touted as 'the next big thing' when it's what existed before but improved a little/new angle taken - not 'creativity' from the 90s certainly, the term 'innovation' representing a lower risk appetite over the past decade, and a preference of small and frequent change over the traditional one-step 'creative disruption'. Note this is my observed adoption/morphing of the term in business language over the past few years.