The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same

While Alan and I were writing The Last Original Idea, it struck me that it wasn't just Internet marketing that followed this interesting evolutionary cycle. There are in fact very few original ideas. Would Orville and Wilbur Wright have been the fathers of modern aviation if they hadn't watched birds soaring in the sky? What would our current mode of transportation be if Henry Ford had not looked at the horse drawn carriage and "had a better idea"? Ideas seem to cycle and recycle. Why do movie makers have to remake classics? Couldn't they leave Cape Fear or Sabrina alone and have an original thought? Of course they do. It's called 3D - also a recycled idea. Why do fashion designers have to recycle old ideas? The platform shoes of today burst onto the scene in the 1950s.

I challenge each of you to think of something that we use, buy, sell, eat, drink, or play that is entirely original. After reading The Last Original Idea think of how the evolution of Internet marketing mirrors other facets of business and industry and how everyone can benefit and profit from understanding history.