When it comes to gaming, I mean.

Alot of times I see or hear of great ideas from people who have no programming knowledge, just as often i see great programmers/devs who just have no ideas at all.

Would anybody here agree that ideas are just as valuable as knowledge, or are ideas not as valuable?

It depends on your role. Ideas have value, but not in a vacuum. An idea can only be used to create value with a combination of knowledge and effort. And without knowledge, it's difficult (impossible?) to have ideas that are potentially worth something.

A programmer who has no ideas, though, is a worthless one -- and quite rare. They may not have game ideas, but that's something else entirely.

gaming or gamedev?

The analogy I always make is this: (Good) ideas are like the air we breathe. Fundamentally important, yet ubiquitous. Unsellable.

Google "unsolicited ideas": You'll see company after company saying "thanks but no thanks". They have enough ideas of their own that the little additional value of another, even given out for free, is outweighed by the mere chance of legal trouble. They'll throw out entire design documents without even reading them, just as a matter of policy.

Someone with only ideas isn't useful.
Someone with only the ability to execute is.

Just like literacy and any other knowledge, it is of no value unless used.


The ability to read is worthless until you have actually read something.
An idea is worthless until it has been turned into a product.
The ability to program is worthless unless you can actually complete a product.


A literate person who doesn't read is not so different from an illiterate.
A programmer who does not program is not so different than a non-programmer.
An idea that you don't work into a product is just mental vapor.

With respect to gaming, and perhaps any field in general, ideas and knowledge go hand in hand. One won't work well without the other. Someone may have a great idea, but cannot be realized or perhaps isn't realistic due to a lack of knowledge. Similarly, having knowledge is useless unless one has ideas on how to use it. That's my take anyways.

Ultimately? No.. because without knowledge, ideas would just be flights of fancy and conversely without ideas, knowledge would be left aimless.. You have to consider both of course. Since no one is totally devoid of ideas or knowledge. And since we work in groups we leverage the strengths of others ideas and knowledge to supplement our own.. It's even less important. What is more important is will. The capacity to carry through and bring ideas with knowledge into fruition.

I wouldn't be able to tell you, because I'm not an ideas person, but my uneducated guess would be that it's mostly that they have a different curve:

Bad idea - worthless
bad programmer - worthless

Just an idea - as good as worthless
Just a programmer - worth a months pay per month

Good idea - nice to have
Good programmer - very valuable, the faith of your project will depend on it

Best idea in the world - Worth billions. Look at google, facebook, twitter... it's not their tech, it's their concept.
Best programmer in the world - Very valuable, can do the work of many programmers on his own.

Best idea in the world - Worth billions. Look at google, facebook, twitter... it's not their tech, it's their concept.

Bullshit. Google didn't invent search. Facebook didn't invent social networks, twitter didn't invent messaging. None of them are new concepts and it was their execution and timing which made them what they are.

[quote name='quasar3d' timestamp='1325693422' post='4899618']
Best idea in the world - Worth billions. Look at google, facebook, twitter... it's not their tech, it's their concept.

Bullshit. Google didn't invent search. Facebook didn't invent social networks, twitter didn't invent messaging. None of them are new concepts and it was their execution and timing which made them what they are.
[/quote]

Aye, i can't actually think of a single truly innovative idea in the computer field that has been made successful by the person or company that first came up with it.

Aye, i can't actually think of a single truly innovative idea in the computer field that has been made successful by the person or company that first came up with it.

I seem to recall that a number of the researchers involved in the development of public-key cryptography managed to make bank on the basis of their research.

That said, I think you could apply your observation to almost any field - making a profit is rarely about having the good idea, it's about having the skill and resources to exploit someone else's good idea.