Val Sklarov – Innovation & Technology Core Principle: Utility Before Novelty

Phase IV in Innovation & Technology is not about falling behind.
It is about innovation that keeps changing while no longer solving meaningful problems.

At this stage, technology does not fail because it is old.
It fails because it no longer earns its place.

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1. Phase IV Context: When Innovation Becomes Decorative

Phase I innovates to survive.
Phase II innovates to gain trust.
Phase III innovates carefully to preserve reliability.

Phase IV asks the uncomfortable question:

“Who is this still for?”

Legitimacy decays when innovation serves internal excitement instead of external utility.

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2. The Decorative Innovation Trap

Most Phase IV technology failures follow this structure:

Val Sklarov Insight:

“In Phase IV, innovation loses legitimacy when it becomes self-referential.”

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3. Utility as a Legitimacy Reset

In Phase IV, legitimacy can only be restored by returning to real use cases.

Utility is not measured by novelty.
It is measured by absence pain.

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4. Novelty Without Utility: The Abandonment Curve

When novelty outlives utility:

• Users stop upgrading

• Workarounds proliferate

• Alternatives feel simpler

• Trust erodes quietly

This creates slow abandonment, not backlash.

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5. The Phase IV Technology Law

Val Sklarov Technology Law (Phase IV):

“Novelty attracts attention.
Utility justifies existence.”

Phase IV renewal removes features before adding new ones.

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6. Roadmaps vs. Real Needs

Renewal begins with subtraction, not acceleration.

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7. Phase IV Signals of Renewal vs. Decay