Unit 2. Innovation

Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.

Coco Chanel (1883-1971), French fashion designer

Warm-up

What are the most important innovations for you in your daily life? Think about the following areas.

• communication

• transport

• home entertainment

• food

• other

What innovations would you most like to see in the areas above?

Vocabulary

1. The nouns below are often used when talking about innovation. Check that you know the meanings of the words and phrases in the box and complete the extract from the talk below.

drawing board discovery breakthrough prototype setback pioneers brainwave patent concept R&D (research and development)

The idea of a lone inventor who makes a …………….. or has a sudden clever idea or ………….. is maybe a little out of date today. While these types of ……………… do still exist, these days companies often have large ……………… departments - teams of people who are constantly innovating and perfecting designs. Perhaps they begin with a ……………….. and then

build a …………….. or working model. Sometimes during testing there is a ……………….. when it becomes clear the design has a fault. At this point maybe it is time to start again or go back to the ……………. . More work is done and there is a ………………. - a solution is found. The product can be retested and then, hopefully, manufactured. The company will apply for a ……………. for the design so that others cannot copy it and steal the idea.

2. The adjectives below can be used to describe inventions or new ideas. Which have a positive meaning? Which have a negative meaning? Write + or - next to each one.

brilliant beneficial silly life-saving pointless ridiculous time-saving annoying wasteful life-changing practical money-saving revolutionary space-saving ground-breaking

3. Look at the following list of twentieth-century innovations. In your opinion, which is:

• the most important? • the most controversial?

• the most useful? • the most unpopular?

Describe the innovations. What other innovations would you add to the list?

1901 1900 1923 1950 1956 1973 1974 1979 1986 1987 1994 1997

the vacuum cleaner the escalator the traffic signal the heart pacemaker TV remote control cars with airbags the Post-it note personal stereo laptop computer disposable contact lenses GM (genetically-modified) tomatoes Dolly the sheep (The first mammal cloned from an adult cell.)

Reading

Do you know which of the following products Procter and Gamble manufactures?

• cars • shampoo

• furniture • toothpaste

• washing powder • anti-ageing cream