WELCOME
February 2014 Issue 279
MEET THE TEAM
Editor – Jory MacKay
jory.mackay@
intentmedia.co.uk
Deputy Editor – Jake Young
jake.young@intentmedia.co.uk
Managing Editor – Jo Ruddock
jo.ruddock@
intentmedia.co.uk
Sales Manager – Graham Kirk
graham@gkirkmedia.com
Group Head of Design & Production – Adam Butler
adam.butler@intentmedia.co.uk
Production Executive – Jason Dowie
jason.dowie@
intentmedia.co.uk
Designer – Jat Garcha
jat.garcha@
intentmedia.co.uk
Publisher – Steve Connolly
steve.connolly@
intentmedia.co.uk
Press releases to:
pressreleases@intentmedia.co.uk
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‘INNOVATIVE’ is one of those words that is getting dangerously close to joining the ranks of ‘unique’ and ‘groundbreaking’ in the world of technology. More and more, press releases and product announcements are littered with examples of how ‘innovative’ a piece of kit is. Even if said product does display some innovative qualities, just the mere sight of the word is reason enough for this editor to let out an exasperated sigh. ‘But why does it matter?’ you might ask.
The reason, in my humble opinion, is that the true meaning behind being innovative has been skewed as the word gets used more frequently as a synonym for something that is original, new, or (heaven forbid) ‘unique’.
The beginning of the New Year seems the perfect occasion for this rant,
and if you follow the industry at all you might be able to easily guess why. This past month marked the return of the Winter NAMM show to the Anaheim Convention Center – one of the few shows where manufacturers still closely guard their new product releases until the doors open.
“Ifwe’re free fromthe burden of trying to be completely original,we can stop trying tomake something out of nothing, andwe can embrace influence instead of running away fromit.”
The show and its resulting press is a hotbed of ‘innovative’ releases with
‘unique features’ – a seemingly never-ending flood of kit purporting to be completely original and new. One of my favourite books, the New York Times best-selling Steal Like An
Artist, by Austin Kleon, is a great counter-argument to those feeling the pressure to constantly be original. The book is a meditation on (you guessed it) stealing the best things around you in order to be a creative person. Here’s one of the more impressive quotes from the book’s first few pages: “If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can
stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.” All creative works, whether they are poems, novels, drawings, or, in the
pro-audio world, microphones, consoles, speakers, and the like, build on past works and past ideas. In short, labeling something innovative shouldn’t be about ignoring the competition and being original, but rather ‘stealing’ and building – taking things from the past and using them in different, interesting, and, most importantly, useful ways. Now don’t get me wrong. As I said earlier, there are products coming out
every month that fit this criteria – it’s the way we market and describe them where things go astray. In the end I think we’d all benefit from more facts and figures and fewer adjectives.
Jory MacKay, Editor
1 Color - 0 Cyan / 100 Magenta / 99 Yellow / 4 Black
www.audiomedia.com
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