Comment Re:Really? (Score 1) 181
I don't disagree with your definition. However, with the Tesla, what is he innovating? There have been all electric vehicles prior to his. The technology he is using isn't being used differently than in those other vehicles. Yes, he is looking at building his own infrastructure, but that has been done before, too. That's not to dismiss what he is doing by any means.
I also agree that the hyperloop is invention, not innovation. While it appears similar to a train or monorail, it really isn't. I would also agree that Arthur C. Clarke was a visionary but only because of his ability to invent and/or innovate, not because of his ideas.
While being a visionary does include conceiving the possibilities, it is more than that. Jules Vernes is a visionary in that limited sense, but Musk is more than that. A real visionary is more than a dreamer but one whose dreams can change society. Take Japan and electronic devices. Many of those circuits were invented in the US by US engineers. Many Japanese companies were innovative in their production techniques to bring the cost down through mass production. However, only a handful of companies, not just Japanese were visionary on how those cheap circuits could transform society.
Take the iPhone - prior to Jobs, there were mobile phones and there were data organizers and even phones that let you put your calendar and get your email and the like. The reason the iPhone was so successful as compared with other smart phone type devices was not the innovations that Jobs made but the vision he had with what could be and then choosing the various innovations to make that vision a reality.
Somebody at Xerox was inventive and/or innovative in coming up with the mouse and GUI, but they didn't have the vision to see where Apple and Microsoft would take it.
So yes, Musk is unique in that he is both visionary and innovator/inventor, but it is the visionary part that makes him notable.