Tech icons Apple
and Google
top BusinessWeek's 2008 list of The
World's 50 Most Innovative Companies. This year's ranking adds three financial
data points - revenue, margin growth and stock returns - to survey results from
company executives and senior management to decide which business belts out
the brightest innovations.

Apple took the top spot for its products (though I hope not for its aggravating
and deceptive practice of pushing
new software through an update channel). Google, which just released a better-than-expected
earnings report, came in at number 2 for its 'customer experience.'

It shouldn't come as any surprise that companies whose profit depends on harnessing
the cutting edge of technology should get the nod for innovation, and other
well-known names such as Microsoft
(at #5), Nintendo
(#7) and Amazon.com (#11)
appear high up. Social networking upstart Facebook
comes in at the halfway point.

The package
intro asks an interesting question: whether the threat of recession should
prompt more innovation as a counter, or if high-risk R&D should be scaled
back to protect the core business. Find that discussion and other related pieces
in the package's
table of contents.

» posted by abennett

PC World

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