Recent attention has been paid to airlines launching wi-fi initiatives for domestic flights, with Airtran being the first to offer Internet service on all of its flights by this summer. Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are also entering the fray, but with the costs of necessary technical upgrades to the airplanes being passed on directly to the passengers, we’re wondering if this is going to fly with the general public.

According to one source, it costs $100,000 per plane to offer the wi-fi service and then passengers will be charged $9.95 for shorter flights or $12.95 for longer distances. While the executives quoted are spot-on in saying that this is something passengers will expect on all flights a few years from now, in 2009 are travelers, whether business or leisure, willing to pony up the cash? The days of hotels charging exorbitant fees for Internet service have been replaced with complimentary in room wi-fi hook ups. And as the price of technology goes down and many people subscribe high speed internet for as little as $30 per month, are they willing to pay such a premium to get online? Business travelers may be interested in sending and receiving emails, though the friendly skies is one of the few spaces they can unplug. And leisure travelers may want to update facebook, read the news, and of course check for the latest update from the I Open Lab blog, but on top of luggage fees, beverage fees, and fees connected to anything else the airlines can think of, will passengers want to spend even more on getting from A to B. Sure, life is about the journey, but for those excited about the destination, they may not want to spend so much on getting there.

There’s also the seemingly arbitrary price break for PDA’s and smartphones, which can access inflight wi-fi for $7.95. The price break is appreciated, but do these devices use less “Internet” than laptops? We’re sure that Internet service will be a part of all flights in the next few years, and eventually the costs will go down but perhaps the executives could consider some new options in pricing or the overall offering. What if the price was on a sliding scale based on how many people use it? If an entire plane is logged on, do they all need to pay the hefty fee, or should there be a break? Or perhaps if you just want to sign on to check for urgent emails, or you absolutely have to post the picture of your neighbor asleep on your shoulder to facebook, you can log on for a smaller increment of time and pay a smaller price accordingly. And it might be interesting to think about the purpose of wi-fi connectivity in the first place. Wi-fi is great for people on-the-go with mobile office lifestyles, but when you’re on a plane as a passenger you aren’t doing much moving. So what about getting rid of those phones that come on the back of many seats and offering USB cords to connect to a modem? These are just some thoughts and they may not be feasible, but in our opinion, neither is charging so much for a technology that while vital to our lives, is getting cheaper and cheaper and eventually will be free when we’re on solid ground.

An article in today’s New York Times reviews the latest hope for saving newspapers and magazines…an over-sized, unruly, black and white electronic reading tablet. Oh, and it’s also slow. Needless to say we’re somewhat dubious that this device will become the ailing publishing industry’s savior. As always, we look for the best in ideas, and portable electronic devices that are capable of displaying magazine and newspaper content are clearly the way of the future. However this device, by Plastic Logic, seems confined both by limitations of newspapers and magazines as well as available technology.

While the product is closer in size to newspapers and magazines than other readers out there is it the right size for today’s and tomorrow’s consumers? We’re concerned for a few reasons. First, how many devices are we going to carry around with us, especially when they offer similar features to users? Between blackberrys, PDAs and iPhones, we can access the web, read news, take pictures, listen to music, oh, and talk on the phone. Many can also be used as e-readers, muscling into Amazon’s Kindle’s and other readers’ territories. Is there any room or need in the market for plus-sized readers? Also, if you can’t easily put it in your pocket and even have to carry around a special bag for it we think it’s just too large. You can fold newspapers and magazines, and hey, if you need to you can toss them. You probably won’t want to toss the readers, at least not while we’re still in a recession.

It may be difficult to travel with the readers, but it also doesn’t seem likely people will read them at home or in the office. The technology is only capable of giving readers a black and white image, with no video or audio. When you have access to computers at home and in the office offering multimedia experiences, why would you turn to the reader? In the Times article, one executive is quoted as saying if the devices had come out five years ago there would probably be more excitement. Which makes us wonder if this is just like someone introducing a really really great VHS player.

So what should magazines and newspapers try to offer with a digital reading device? It needs to leverage the modern consumer lifestyle mixed with the equity of the newspaper/magazine experience. If consumers like “flipping through” magazines, maybe the devices can consist of two or four folds, allowing people to flip the page, instead of just scrolling down. And perhaps they can select a random function, allowing stories and features to show up in different orders, just like flipping through an actual magazine. Of course multimedia options, which aren’t available, would be great drivers of adoption. This could let a user listen to the headlines and full articles of favorite sections or key topics of interest while driving or riding to work.

Finally, magazines and newspapers should not forget about the badge value they offer readers. People give off a message when they’re reading The Financial Times versus The New York Post, and The New Yorker versus King…and this is something to leverage further rather than give up to a beige blank electronic reader.

These are just a few ideas, and clearly the publishing industry is putting a lot of time and effort into providing something new for readers. We just hope they catch up before the next headline is the shuttering of another big name paper or magazine.

At the I Open Lab, we believe there are no bad ideas. And we mean it…it’s not just the polite thing to say…but actually the worst idea in the world could end up inspiring you to have a great idea. Without that terrible, utterly despicable idea, you never would have had the breakthrough. So all ideas have value.

However, sometimes when companies implement innovations it leaves us scratching our heads. This week there are two prime candidates for the title of Innovation of the Weak. First is Apple, who’s new iPod shuffle handcuffs users to possibly the worst part of all Apple products, the earbuds. Second is Facebook, who despite having a history of listening to users and backtracking, have moved forward with a redesign that’s been universally panned (at least by us and our friends).

The iPod revolutionized the portable music industry, and perhaps the music industry as a whole. Its iconic styling, colors, track wheels, and just darn cool marketing made it a must have for not just die-hard Mac enthusiasts, but for mainstream casual music fans. With all the brand cues and innovations at its disposal, with the new iPod shuffle, Apple chose to focus on its most frustrating weakness, the headphones. The new shuffle works only with the included headphones because the controls are now on the earbud cord. While some are wowed by the voice over feature that comes with the new iPod, a voice telling you which track you’re listening to, as many have already quipped, the new shuffle is tough to use if you’re doing anything but sitting down. If you’re working out, snowboarding, running, or perhaps just blessed with large ears, the headphones will not stay in place and the joy of listening to music is replaced with the frustration of chasing after earbuds as they jump out of your ear and dangle towards the ground.

Apple is a smart company, so why would they do this? The white earbuds are iconic, and featured prominently in the marketing. Are they forcing users to live up to this brand image, whether users want to or not? For Apple, does image trump experience? Or is it hubris and the company simply didn’t realize just how bad their earbuds are?

This youtube video explains how to replace the earbuds, but perhaps there are other ways to overcome this innovation of the weak. What are your ideas?

Before writing this, we had trouble once again starting a post with the word “innovation.” The term is teetering between the overused and the banal. Instead of more talk about innovation it’s time for all of us to simply become innovators.

A recent article in BusinessWeek calls for President Obama to appoint a Secretary of Innovation. The notion is extremely interesting, calling for this post to create an innovation mindset as well as leading a systematic national innovation process. But something about this idea doesn’t sit well with us. While the process of innovation can be applied to absolutely every and any challenge a person or organization faces, it’s nearly impossible to lay a process of innovation on top of a nation. Talk about too many cooks!

Rather, let’s encourage the cultivation of a nation of innovators, with everyone tapping into their power to become an expert brainstormer. Ideally this would start in schools, where far too often we’re taught that there is one answer. There’s always more than one answer. The good news is that it’s never too late to become an innovator. Don’t wait for the government. Don’t wait for your boss. The first step is to identify what you want to do better. All the answers are right in front of you, but first you need to make sure you’re asking the right questions…

The internet felt a ripple this week when the company synonymous with “The Internet” decided to shut down several new services and products. Google has announced it’s closing microblogging platform Jaiku, mobile location service Dodgeball, Google Catalog search, and Google Notebook.

The company is famous for its dedication to innovation, offering employees ample time to pursue products and interests of choice on the corporate dime. So it’s surprising to see all this happen at once, what some are calling a massacre. At the I Open Lab, it begs the question, when does Google decide to stop pursuing an idea. For that matter, when do any of us say, “hey this idea isn’t working out!”

Did you know that ATM’s were almost abandoned because people had too many concerns about them? Can you imagine banking without them now? So what do you do when you have an idea that gets mixed results? Do you abandon it? At the I Open Lab, one of the keys to brainstorming is taking an idea with promise and making it stronger by addressing concerns and challenges. When you have an idea you aren’t sure about, start by listing what concerns you, and then think about how to address those concerns. You’d be surprised how easy it is to make a good idea and GREAT idea.

Microsoft recently announced plans to open a chain of branded retail stores and unfortunately for the juggernaut, the news has been met with criticism and derision. It’s been called an Apple copycat and a bad fit given today’s retail and economic climate. PC World listed ten ways the chain could differ from Apple, but Microsoft probably won’t be taking any of their advice, which includes an “Excuse Bar,” assuming everyone is a thief, and undetermined store hours.

However, the Microsoft move, even if it’s mimicking Apple stores, is a huge opportunity for the brand. One of the keys to brainstorming is piggybacking…not jumping on your neighbors back, but adapting an idea or concept to your own purposes. If Microsoft can tap into its core brand heritage and apply that to the stores, perhaps they’re making a smarter move than we think. If Microsoft is more of a brand of the people, since it’s basically ubiquitous, perhaps they could provide a help desk that’s less high-falutin than Apple’s “Genius Bar.” Maybe it’s where people talk to people in simple, non-condescending ways. And let’s face it, if you haven’t had a frustrating experience at a “Genius Bar,” you probably don’t own a Mac.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can maximize this opportunity by creating an entirely new retail experience, just like Apple did, but in a branded way that’s unique and reconnects people to the brand. At the I Open Lab we already have some ideas for them that aren’t punchlines. What do you think they could do?

One-hundred and fifty years ago Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” heralded a new understanding of the progression of life and while there’s still debate over his theories in some circles, overall this has become the prevailing school of thought.  What’s most striking is the state of science when this discovery was made and just how far we’ve come since then.  A year after Darwin’s breakthrough publication, science finally disproved “spontaneous generation,” the notion that life continually arose from nonliving things.

While laughable now, that we’ve come so far in 150 years, and that we continue to make leaps and bounds each decade and even each year,  begs the question, what’s next?  Is another Darwin around the corner ready to shake our believe system to the core? In 1899, Charles Duell, commissioner of the US patent office famously mistateed that “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”  If history provides any clues to the future, we’re in store for more innovations that we’ll know what to do with.  So what’s next?  Are you waiting for breakthroughs to happen or are you making them happen?

Today, on the steps of New York’s Morgan Library, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, unveiled the Kindle 2.0. It’s an updated and upgraded e-reader, with interesting features such as wi-fi syncing, and a ridiculously long battery life. Naturally issues emerge with a product priced a bit high in this economy and in signing up for exclusively amazon.com provided content, but let’s face it, eventually books are dead. Or should I says “books.”

So unveiling this device on the steps of the library seemed a little callous. Like unveiling the latest Limewire software at a Virgin Record store (you know, before it was closed). So what is the future of the library? As an institution, the public library is part of American culture, and perhaps one that we’d like to hold on to for a while yet.

Assuming in 20 years we’ll all have some version of a Kindle, what’s the future of the library? What should we use these spaces for if not for reading books? If you could do anything at a library, what would it be? What are some things libraries maybe haven’t explored yet? Sooner or later they’re going to have to do more than collect 5 cents on a late fee, and maybe we can help come up with some breakthroughs!

In today’s NYT, an article talks about the impact of color on creativity.  Essentially the study, from the University of British Columbia, states that the color red can make people’s work more accurate and the color blue can make people more creative.  Are colors this powerful?  What about other colors like green, yellow, and…well, you know other colors.  I’d wager that given the right mindset you can be as creative in a red room as any other color room, but just to be safe, the I Open Lab might install a blue wall.

The Times proudly says they have bright tomato-soup red rooms and not a single blue one.  While journalistic accuracy is important, given the state of the industry, they might want to consider a blue room or two and think of some new ways of doing business!

See the full article here