Is innovation a good thing?

I have been driven to ask the question because of the DARPA X Plane competition for a VTOL UAV capable of 300-400kt cruise:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTOL_X-Plane

Some of the entries are shown here:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]241282[/ATTACH] Boeing
[ATTACH=CONFIG]241280[/ATTACH] LM Sikorsky
[ATTACH=CONFIG]241281[/ATTACH] Karem
[ATTACH=CONFIG]241283[/ATTACH] Aurora Flight Sciences

Of these the last one has caught my eye, featuring a wing full of electric motors driven by the power from the RR engine in a hybrid set up.

In the world of aviation there is little that hasn’t been tried before, but with some of the layouts using technology first tried in the 50s (Boeing/Sikorsky), is it not time to try something new?