A few months ago I came across a piece by Jeff Nolan, titled Incrementalism and “The New New Thing,” which struck poignantly at a raw nerve. He called attention to the incrementalism gripping Silicon Valley despite the flush amount of capital available for startups. Much of the attention and hype has surrounded social networking and Web 2.0 startups but each new entry is a slight improvement over the previous. But only discontinuous, quantum leap innovations create disproportionate value. So what’s next?
Umair Haque’s An Open Challenge to Silicon Valley put it …

ESCO receives order for 88,000 meter readers – Radio Frequency (RF) utility meters are coming to your neighborhood soon. Yes, everything is going to get networked, even your gas, electric, and water meters. ESCO Technologies (ESE) just sold a bunch to PG&E Corporation (PCG) and if you don’t live in California, expect your utility to follow suit.
Perdigao Reports Increase in Net Income of 174% in 2007 – Food prices keep rising – an issue I’ve mentioned here before. Brazilian pork and poultry producer Perdigao S.A. (PDA) has been a big …