Necessity no longer seems to be the mother of invention.

Mobile phones, iPods, televisions, and other gadgets are practically designed for the dump nowadays, as consumers ditch them after a year or two for the newer iterations.

But the so-called disposable consumer society these rapid-paced innovations have helped create is a critical driver of the American economy, because it encourages consumers to keep their wallets open.

In most cases when it comes to innovation, the simple fact that something is new and being purchased is a demonstration of its value, economists and business professors argue.

The Institute for Imagination and Ingenuity may sound like something from a David Foster Wallace novel, but the newest project from Saudi Arabian part-time scientist, part-time superhero Hayat Sindi has more idealistic ambitions. Known simply as the I2 Institute, the organization is trying to develop a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Middle East by teaching promising candidates how to collaborate with mentors, identify networking potential, and pitch ideas to both potential investors and the public at large.

The problem isn’t really connected to education, Sindi tells Co.Design. It's that there’s no infrastructure in the Middle East that allows young people to apply the education that they already have. “I meet hundreds of young people and they get good university educations in the West. They just need an environment to flourish.”

Today’s biggest trends — the mobile web, social media, gamification, real-time — are changing the landscape for business. Consumers are connecting with one another, and in the process they’re becoming increasingly empowered and influential.

How these connected consumers discover, share, and communicate is different than the way they used to. This change requires businesses to rethink their approach. Organizations need to examine the impact of technology on consumer behavior and understand how connected consumers make decisions and influence the decisions of their peers.

I was on WBUR's Radio Boston show earlier this week, talking about a blog post I wrote. From that post:

(Boston is a) second-tier financial services town. Second-tier tech town. Second-tier retail town. Second-tier defense contracting town.

(Boston has) an Avis strategy without the Avis motivation: "We're #2, but our sense of entitlement keeps us from trying harder."

On the show, entrepreneur and angel investor Bill Warner, a fellow guest, was hopping mad, and he pointed to many ways in which the tech scene in particular has improved over the past few years.

Dear iD reader,

We have been working hard to deliver the finest newsletter related to innovation, entrepreneurship, early stage investment and Innovation based Economic Development.  As you can see from today's edition, we have a new look for the newsletter.  Additionally, we'll have lots of new features coming to the website over the coming weeks.

A major feature going live today, is the new article viewer.  No longer will you have to click multiple times to view the original article.  Now, once you click on the title in the innovationDAILY newsletter, you will see the full, original content from the original posting website.

Another new feature is "Rich Says"  (insert image here)will be a special comment box, where I will be able to express my feelings on a specific article or topic. An example is illustrated at the bottom of this article.

As always, we listen and appreciate any and all feedback you may have.  Please send comments toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Is your child glued to that videogame controller again? Take a deep breath. Researchers at Michigan State University want you to know that there's a link between video game use and creativity in children.

Specifically, a study of nearly 491 12-year-olds, funded by the National Science Foundation, found that "the more kids played video games, the more creative they were in tasks such as drawing pictures and writing stories."

Do you have what it takes to innovate? I'm not talking IQ, degree, or job title. No. I'm talking the curious confluence of behaviors that come with the territory of being the kind of person who turns top of the line ideas into bottom line realities. And while these behaviors don't guarantee a single thing, they do increase the odds of you actually manifesting something wonderful in this world.

1. You often come up with great ideas in the shower and car

2. You like to stay up late... or get up early... or both

3. You're comfortable with ambiguity and chaos

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded.

The Gust Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. Over half of the survivors remaining are eliminated during live presentations, and another 6.5% are eliminated during due diligence.

The U.S. House of Representatives    passed two bills this week, which, if passed by the Senate, could help startups use crowdfunding, a strategy used to raise capital.

In essence, crowdfunding allows businesses to use the Internet to solicit small equity investments from a large number of people, or a crowd.

State Treasurer Janet Cowell on Thursday formally announced the creation of a life sciences accelerator to support early stage companies.

The entity will receive an infusion of $35 million from the $232 million NC Innovation Fund, the effort Cowell launched in March 2010 to help grow North Carolina companies and their payrolls.

Devils Lake, ND — Gov. Jack Dalrymple announced Thursday that North Dakota was credited with the best economic index in the nation, according to the Bloomberg Economic Evaluation of States Index. The study, which tracks the pace of state economic growth, ranked North Dakota No. 1 in the nation, citing job creation and increased incomes as key indicators.  Bloomberg also reported that North Dakota was the only state in the nation to experience a positive economic index. With the exception of North Dakota, economic conditions in all other states are worse than they were at the end of 2008, according to the study.

Every investor and entrepreneur knows there is something scary about the current startup economy. There is an enormous amount of angel capital available, while at the same time there is a small amount of Series A and a large and concentrated amount of late stage capital. Industry insiders have affectionately dubbed this situation “the Barbell”, and it has become the most serious threat to the progress that startups have made — since 2008.

At least nine out of ten high-quality angel-funded startups face an unnecessary death, because there is no Series A money to help them survive critical expansion. (See Rip’s post on the rise in late stage capital here.)

Whether it’s the economy causing the rise in freelancers these days, as Business on Main reports, or just the ability to hire someone virtually at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee, freelancing is hotter than it’s ever been. And while the unemployment rate may be hovering at just over 9 percent, the news about the percentage of freelancers finding work is much more positive. In fact, as The Christian Science Monitor points out, it’s been estimated that freelance roles will make up half of all the new jobs created during the period of economic recovery (whenever that starts).

Chart above: Content Writing Jobs Are Once Again Thriving

Each quarter, Freelancer.com charts the fastest-growing online jobs for freelancers. Delving in, we found some interesting facts.

I’m in even worse trouble now. A few weeks ago I had to speak at Barry Ritholz’s conference but that turned out to be “only” a panel. It was a great panel but I knew I would only have ten minutes of time so wouldn’t need to prepare much although even then I was worried.

Now I’m speaking for one hour at Defrag in Boulder, Colorado next week on November 9 and I’m terrified. For one thing, all of the other speakers are smarter than me. Right before me is Roger Ehrenberg speaking about “big data”. I’m not even sure what “big data” is so right off he’s smarter than me. Then Paul Kedrosky is speaking later in the afternoon about god knows what. Paul has an excellent blog obsessed with everything from economics to weather data. So despite my expertise in speaking I’m finding I’m a bit nervous.

It's no secret that finding funding isn't easy right now for biotech start-ups.

"The funding landscape is really hard," said Anne-Marie Maman, founding member and CEO of the Princeton-based medical device start-up Oxygense Inc. "A company that's just surviving during these times right now is really succeeding."

Nearly 30 start-ups and academic institutions, including Oxygense, tried to break through the icy investment scene last week by presenting their ideas to potential partners and investors at the Biotech 2011 Innovation Corridor.

It’s that time of year again: Time to throw on the high-beam headlights, lay off the accelerator and scan the roadside.

Those pairs of glowing eyes peering through the trees aren’t likely to stay put.

Car-deer crashes are on the rise across the state and will continue to increase in number as hunting season begins.

So “brake” for just a moment and take the advice of Allegan County Sheriff’s Lt. Frank Baker — it might just save that front bumper from an unexpected crunch.

Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies are responding to an average of four to six collisions daily involving deer, he said.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.

THEY come for his money. They come for his advice. They come — duh — for his connections.

But mostly they come, with all the élan of Dorothy on her way to Oz, for a chance at some face time with Reid G. Hoffman, the start-up whisperer of Silicon Valley.

Mr. Hoffman made his name and fortune as the co-founder of LinkedIn, the social network that went public five months ago. But he has also emerged as something else — — as the man whom Internet entrepreneurs call when they dream of becoming the next, well, Reid Hoffman.

Want to brainstorm about new technology? Build a business? Raise a cool million — or billion? Mr. Hoffman is a man to see. If he can’t help, he probably knows someone who can. He is, as you might expect, a seriously linked-in guy.

1."Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2. "There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth -- not going all the way, and not starting." - Buddha

3. "Be willing to be a beginner every single morning." - Meister Eckhart

4. "All great ideas and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning." - Albert Camus

5. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu

DO... 1. … put customers ahead of everything else. Figure out which problems you can solve for your customers or which benefit you are offering.

2. .… find out what types of individuals or companies are most likely to want the product or service you are providing. Who are they, where are they, what are their key characteristics?

3. … devise a sales process and a marketing method that will take your business to the customers most likely to “buy” them. This includes price and pricing models, market positioning, and promoting your company in a way they are most likely to respond to.

If the basic premise of business is to find a need and fill it, then Michael Morris has stumbled on both a need and an opportunity.

Morris is a leading-edge Baby Boomer born in 1945. Despite working in the fashion business for 40 years, he found it a “daunting task” to land a traditional job once he reached his 60s.

Now 66, the Toronto resident qualifies for both the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security but doesn’t view them as sufficient to live on. What savings he had accumulated were consumed on his business ventures. When he tried to get a job working for someone else, his age worked against him.