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Olympus Named A top 10 "Most Innovative Company" By Fast Company Magazine
swintonphoto
Registered Users Posts: 1,664 Major grins
Olympus was named one of the top 10 most innovative companies in the consumer electronics industry. Glad someone is taking notice:
http://olympusamerica.com/oai_HeadlinesDetails.asp?pressNo=747&intCmp=headline
http://olympusamerica.com/oai_HeadlinesDetails.asp?pressNo=747&intCmp=headline
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Got bored with digital and went back to film.
I've always thought of Olympus as an optics company. They put togeter a line of highly reguarded lenses for the OM series, only to give up that market. Then they designed their 4/3 system and put together an outstanding bunch of glass for that. Then they made micro 4/3. It seem Olympus HAS to have a line of glass that is not complete to be happy.
With the micro 4/3, Panny is kick'n their butt glass wise, at least so far.
www.spanielsport.com
Of all the companies I met on that trip I was most impressed by Olympus. They are much more than an optics company.
I think they go a different route to the camera leaders and focus on in-camera and in-lens digital processing to produce the better out-of-camera images that they feel their customers want. Optics are good too!
They are not aiming at the pros who want out-of-camera RAWs to manipulate themselves.
Personally I am not surprised they get awards for innovation and good luck to them! Perhaps they will be first with in-camera HDR options - maybe they already did it even.
I think the EP-1 and the other m4/3 are about as innovative as we have seen. Possibly the Leica S2 but I have a little ways to go in my photographic career before I can tell you first hand what that one is like
Sadly, this is exactly my point. Compare this to innovation in other consumer electronics... iPhone, wifi TVs, 3d tv...
Digital cameras are scarcely much better than film cameras with the exception of iso and arguably video.
In photographic terms:
The earliest automated sensor cleaning technology that was effective was an Olympus innovation (Dust Reduction).
Olympus was an early adopter of sensor based stabilization.
Olympus uses "Live MOS" sensors and that allowed Olympus cameras to provide a "Live View" for their dSLRs before it became a more popular feature.
Automatic Pixel Mapping for either dead or stuck pixels allows the "user" to map out bad pixels. Other cameras require sending the camera to a repair facility for pixel mapping.
In earlier film technology Olympus created the "OM" series of small film SLRs. While they were small in size they had the same features as the larger cameras and many professional shooters appreciated these smaller cameras when weight was an issue.
Olympus invented the FP/HSS technology that allows focal plane shutters and electronic flash to operate at speeds beyond "normal" flash sync.
Olympus innovations go far beyond the general photographic and Olympus is also innovative in "Medical and Surgical Products, Life Science Imaging Systems, Industrial Testing Instruments and Cameras and Audio Products".
I also love that Olympus has its own "Olympus Innovation Awards Program" that rewards and promotes educational innovators. Established in 2004, and celebrated each year since, the 2010 recipients are:
"Paul Hudnut, an Entrepreneurship instructor at Colorado State University’s College of Business, won the 2010 Olympus Innovation Award for his creation and development of the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise Program (GSSE), a specialized three-semester graduate business program that trains students to become global social entrepreneurs. In teaching, Hudnut uses his start-up experience to help inform and inspire budding entrepreneurs about starting new ventures, and their power to change the world. One such venture is Envirofit, which sells products in India and the Philippines that increase incomes and reduce pollution. Hudnut’s leadership in starting the GSSE program at CSU, as well as sharing his ideas about innovation and entrepreneurship at other universities, has been widely recognized and appreciated by faculty and students. The Olympus Innovation Award recognizes a faculty member who fosters an environment of innovative thinking among students through inventive teaching methods, projects and case studies.
Jerry Engel, adjunct professor at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, was granted the Olympus Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award for his leadership in establishing The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, of which he is the faculty director and founder. One of the first entrepreneurship programs at any U.S. business school, the Lester Center has taught and inspired hundreds of Haas student entrepreneurs over nearly 20 years. Through emphasizing technology entrepreneurship and experiential learning, Engel’s creation and development of the Global Entrepreneurship Education Initiative, which has trained more than 800 international engineering, science and business faculty through more than 45 seminars in 22 countries, has had an impact on students and faculty all over the world. Additionally, Engel utilized his experience abroad to help launch and improve entrepreneurship programs at numerous universities around the world. The Olympus Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated a sustained contribution throughout their careers to stimulating and inspiring innovative thinking in students in their own universities and throughout academia.
Dr. Jeffrey Blander, course co-director HST939, Division of Health Science and Technology, Harvard Medical School and MIT, captured the Olympus Emerging Educational Leader Award. This award recognizes an individual who has greatly inspired innovative thinking in students and whom the judges believe has significant potential to make important future contributions to the field. Dr. Blander is recognized for his course, Designing Technology Innovation for Global Health Practice. The course works closely with field-based partners in developing countries and the U.S., nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and industry sponsors which enable teams of students to work on projects that prioritize grassroots solutions to address "real world" problems. The first two years of enrollment included more than 80 students from across MIT and Harvard, with 20 projects in eight developing country settings. Dr. Blander’s professional passion extends far beyond the classroom in his role as director of the Bienmoyo foundation. In this role Dr. Blander has expanded training and cultural exchange programs for students and professionals to implement solutions that improve the quality of life of patients and create new sustainable business models in health care in Tanzania."
Olympus is just a class act.
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