One important bullet point this article left out:<p>* Identify a significant social problem, and endeavour to solve it through innovation.<p>Nest has a big page on its site (<a href="http://www.nest.com/why-we-made-it/index.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nest.com/why-we-made-it/index.html</a>) explaining how much energy is wasted by thermostats every year. This has an impact both on personal finances and on the environment. Nest isn't succeeding just because it's well-designed; it solves a problem both for individuals and for larger society.<p>Apple's known for its talk about the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. Steve Jobs was always the most excited when discussing what his technology would let people <i>do</i> that they couldn't do before. Both Jobs and Tony Fadell at Nest aimed higher than just making an attractive product/making a good profit. They made sure that the products they made were going to do something useful for the people who bought them, and possibly for greater society as well.<p>If we're going to learn from Apple, I think it's essential we learn that innovation isn't just about getting a product to do something it hasn't done before. It's also about figuring out which products might significantly impact society if they were done differently – both because it's a nobler aim and because if you figure out how to change the world, come on, your marketing basically writes itself.