You may have seen the news that Google is releasing a new communication tool called Google Wave.  I'm not going to talk about what I think about the product itself because it's impossible to have an opinion without being able to use it.  I want to talk about their goal.

The most interesting part of Wave is the way they claim to have formulated the idea.  They claim that this is how email would work if it were designed today instead of 40 years ago.  I'm not sure if they accomplished that goal, but I like the way they're thinking.

This is a great way to come up with really innovative new creations.  When you're trying to brainstorm new ideas, it's natural to take the approach that new ideas require solving new problems and creating new products.  Google Wave is proof that creativity can thrive even when addressing solved problems.

This is similar to how Zane Benefits works.  We spent a while trying to implement HRAs (Health Reimbursement Arrangements) in a way that was consistent with the existing health benefits industry.  We ended up constantly struggling with the inherently irrational and broken rules of the existing system.  Now, anytime we need to create a new product, we try to imagine how things should work rather than how things do work.  Sometimes we're forced to play nice with existing health care plans.  Sometimes we have the chance to re-invent the entire industry which is really exciting.

So let's brainstorm a few other things that should be re-invented like email and health benefits.  I'll give a few, but feel free to comment if you think of something I don't.

Sports

Strategy in sports is often based on how the game was played in the past.  Football in particular seems to offer a million different possible strategies and almost none of them have ever been tried.  Why not use two quarterbacks at the same time?  Why not go for it on 4th down almost every time (it works in madden)?

Banking

It seems really weird to me that with all the technology we have, I still have to keep some of my money in a checking account and some in a savings account.  Why can't I write checks from a savings account?  As it is now, I can transfer money from one account to another instantly so I always keep money in savings and transfer it to checking immediately before making a payment.  It's a pointless formality.  This is one of many ways in which the banking industry is still acting like they're storing everything in a physical vault.

Twitter

Twitter is stupid.  I would re-invent it by never inventing it in the first place.

How the Internet Works

I'm no expert when it comes to networking and transfer protocols and all that, but in a general sense, the internet was invented before anyone knew what it would turn into.  From the way information is transferred to the languages used to describe web sites (html, css, javascript, etc), the entire thing could use some improvement.  The creators of the internet had no idea what they were creating so it seems obvious that we could do a better job now.

Internet/TV/Phone Service

This is obvious, but I'll say it anyway.  Why in the world do we think of a TV signal as something different than an internet connection?  Why do we pay for data, text messages and minutes on our phones?  It's all just a bunch of ones and zeros, so how about some company actually charges for and provides these services with the realization that they're all the same thing (I know that the answer is because they couldn't charge as much).

Ok, so I'm not particularly proud of any of these examples.  I guess I feel fine with that because if I could think of a field that should truly be re-invented, I should be working in that field.  That seems to be how great companies are born.  Even still, what do you guys think?  What are some things that are based on tradition but could become something much better?