All is quiet here at HDL. The events of this week were relatively mellow. Some good conversations and interviews with local press, ongoing long-term planning, a presentation to visiting bankers from France on a mission to discover "nordic innovation," and housekeeping around the office.

Fall is peaking

We also posted some further reflections from HDL Global 2010. Anna-Leena wondered if there is such a thing as a Finnish model of innovation, Ido compared strategic design to professional cooking, and Rory shared a very (very, very) comprehensive overview of the 3 day event.

There's also some sad news to report. Channel 4, the independent British broadcaster, is shutting down their digital media investment fund 4iP, which was headed by the brilliant Tom Loosemore. We're disappointed by this move because 4iP were doing some very innovative work at the intersection of public interest and commercial viability, digital media and the physical here-and-now.

Products like Newspaper Club, for instance, are an excellent example of the transformative power that a clever re-organization of existing resources and skills can unlock. It's a service that lets anyone print their own newspapers, in any quantity from 4 to 4000, direct from digital files. We could have used a Newspaper Club here in Finland a couple months ago when HDL printed its own paper. Rather than building out their own printing infrastructure, Newspaper Club use the increasing periods of downtime on existing presses. Thankfully, it appears that Newspaper Club had enough time to get off the ground and will flourish without 4iP's continued support. Best of luck to those who were not as fortunate.

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Posted by Bryan Boyer
October 7th, 2010