No, Einstein: Older people innovate, too
http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/07/no-einstein-older-people-innovate-too/?hpt=hp_bn2
I had hoped to at some point be involved in some ground breaking research, but as I get older it seems I just don’t have the time I thought I would have for original thought (for those of you who haven’t tried it, at least for me, it requires extensive periods without any other draws on the intellect). I thought I had something with my DNA sequencing idea, but it turns out I was about 18-24 months behind the times. Many of my ideas appear to be novel applications of existing science/technology so not sure if that would qualify as innovation. However, from a business standpoint, innovators often make poor entrepreneurs. Since I have focused on developing entrepreneurship skills since I was 13 and only later started to focus on science and technology, I have hopes that (presuming I am ever able to get some business going, naturally, something that looks less and less likely as the years go on) I can leverage my knowledge of how to build businesses to take some innovation and make something dramatic out of it.
I guess it will be up to society to decide (if I ever amount to anything) if I have done something innovative or not. For some reason Steve Jobs is considered a world-class innovator, but I just don’t see that in him (world class marketer, yes, much like Bill Gates).