Quotes About Innovation

In our industry, there are so many competing companies and games, and they have people constantly out spying on competition. For example, Valve in Seattle tries to keep their location a secret.

The philosophy at Valve and Gearbox is that if things can't be done better, they shouldn't be done at all.

To me, every kitchen appliance is useful and nothing's overrated. When I look at my little espresso machine, I don't see coffee. I see a steaming valve as an opportunity to make amazing creme brulee.

About half the people at Valve have run their own companies, so they always have the option not just to take a job at another game company, but to go start their own company. The question you always have to answer is, 'How are we making these people more valuable than they would be elsewhere?'

And I had always liked vampire stories because they are great material that can be refashioned in lots of ways.

Similarities in the vampire genre are so rampant that there's really no such thing as an original idea - only an original take on an idea that's been done before.

The intensity of the story breaking on 'Vampire' has never been easy. Every week, you're starting with a blank board and trying to make a new movie. There's no formula; there's no franchise to hang your hat on.

This is the point in the show where we say, 'Oh, what else do we have in the van that's flammable?'

Someone who copies a Van Gogh does not therefore become Van Gogh, and the same would go for Mozart or anyone else who contributed something that was original. Certainly in the way that I described visualizing numbers in abstract, meaningful shapes.

So, okay, I'm not a genius. Vincent Van Gogh and Albert Einstein were geniuses.

Frank Sinatra changed people's approach to singing. Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, van Gogh, they were all part of movements that allowed people to think about their craft differently. They changed the game. These people changed the game.

To me, James Harden is like basketball's Picasso - he's an artist whose work you respect, even if you don't always understand its significance until later. (Or maybe Van Gogh or some other artist - I'm not an art history buff, but you get my point).

High tech is for a short time. But art is forever. People still admire a Picasso or a Van Gogh. But they don't admire the steam locomotive anymore.

I was more influenced by players like Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen than by the guys in southern rock bands.

More and more, I enjoy hearing people who are good at their instruments and who've found a distinctive voice. In death metal, a lot of guys are Eddie Van Halen disciples, but they take his style to really expressionistic places. It's a real pleasure for me to hear people pushing their craft.

I've been playing for aeons now, but way, way back, I remember Eddie Van Halen came out ,and I loved his playing. He was amazing. But then everyone started copying his guitars with Floyds, and I didn't.

It's hard to say this about a guy like Eddie Van Halen, one of the greatest guitar players who ever lived, but he's really limited to a style and they're locked into it.

You have Extreme and Van Halen and the history that I have with other people I played with. There are some effects that will hopefully break that stereotype.

I love players like Thurston Moore. I mean, you can put notes down on a sheet of paper, and if you practice and get your chops up, you can play like an Eddie Van Halen or a Steve Vai. But nobody can do what Thurston Moore does; he's his own guy. He talks through his instrument in a language that's all his own.

You can never deny the immense talent, rock credibility and iconic historical contribution that Van Halen made.

Greg Ginn was certainly a huge influence on my guitar playing. I put him up there with people like Eddie Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen changed everything; I don't necessarily like everything he did, but he definitely changed everything.

So everybody is trying to play like Eddie Van Halen. I think it's rubbish. I think Eddie's great, but everyone's trying to do what he does and it doesn't make for a lot of interesting music.

I think all my albums have concentrated on songs, I've never taken the typical Van Halen route to try and become a guitar hero.

Management innovation is going to be the most enduring source of competitive advantage. There will be lots of rewards for firms in the vanguard.