Can innovation be truly new?

I recently posted the following on my marketing and innovation blog:  

"Innovation is needed now more than ever and companies, governments and organizations are trying to figure out how to become more innovative, and more successful at innovating."

But can the new thrive without the old?  

Once the first adopters of an innovation have latched on to something, can the rest of the world catch on without some form of help?  Or asGeoffrey Moore in his excellent book, Crossing the Chasm might ask, "How can we move from Early Adopters of an innovation to the Early Majority?"

There's an interesting paradox here:  most marketers would agree that something completely new is a difficult sell...even though we are all in the business of selling something new.

In other words, innovation needs to be new, without being new.

Do we need a bridge from the old way of doing things to a new way of doing things?  If so, what is that bridge and how do we build it?"

This seems like a logical place to begin a good discussion about the new and the old - and how they fit together.  What do you think?