some thoughts though:- - not sure if the generalization that it is cheap to create something holds good always. - and innovation may not be a minor difference to something existing. one definition that i found interesting is – innovation is something that found a way to reduce cost or increase yield. there are more types as well like social/process innovation – without actually inventing something, finding a better/faster/cheaper way to do the same thing. Like even though Americans made cars, finding a better way made it good for Japanese to lead the pack. - reproducing ideas:- it must have become much more faster to identify ideas now with the information sharing that is happening through web. but the real hurdle may be in identifying which ideas are worth copying or tinkering with. even though many things looks elementary once it is implemented (like laptops or ipod or twitter), coming up with that core idea would have been a major step.