“Technology in the lengthy-run is irrelevant”. That is what a consumer of mine told me when I produced a presentation to him about a new product. I had been talking about the product’s functions and added benefits and listed “state-of-the-art technology” or a thing to that effect, as one of them. That is when he produced his statement. I realized later that he was correct, at least inside the context of how I utilised “Technologies” in my presentation. But I began thinking about no matter if he could be ideal in other contexts as well.

What is Technology?

Merriam-Webster defines it as:

1

a: the sensible application of know-how especially in a particular area: engineering 2

b: a capability offered by the sensible application of information

two

: a manner of accomplishing a activity particularly making use of technical processes, approaches, or understanding

three

: the specialized aspects of a certain field of endeavor

Wikipedia defines it as:

Technologies (from Greek τέχνη, techne, “art, ability, cunning of hand” and -λογία, -logia[1]) is the creating, modification, usage, and information of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, strengthen a preexisting answer to a difficulty, accomplish a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or carry out a distinct function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies substantially impact human as effectively as other animal species’ capacity to handle and adapt to their all-natural environments. The term can either be applied commonly or to precise places: examples incorporate building technology, medical technology, and information technology.

Both definitions revolve around the very same point – application and usage.

Technology is an enabler

Several men and women mistakenly think it is technology which drives innovation. But from the definitions above, that is clearly not the case. It is chance which defines innovation and technology which enables innovation. Feel of the classic “Make a far better mousetrap” example taught in most enterprise schools. You might have the technology to construct a improved mousetrap, but if you have no mice or the old mousetrap works effectively, there is no opportunity and then the technologies to make a far better one particular becomes irrelevant. On the other hand, if you are overrun with mice then the chance exists to innovate a product making use of your technology.

Yet another example, one with which I am intimately familiar, are consumer electronics startup providers. https://businessupside.com/2023/01/06/5-best-youtube-to-mp3-free-converters-music-lovers-need-right-now ‘ve been related with each these that succeeded and these that failed. Every single possessed unique major edge technologies. The distinction was chance. These that failed could not come across the chance to create a meaningful innovation making use of their technology. In fact to survive, these providers had to morph oftentimes into one thing entirely unique and if they were fortunate they could take advantage of derivatives of their original technologies. A lot more typically than not, the original technologies wound up in the scrap heap. Technologies, as a result, is an enabler whose ultimate value proposition is to make improvements to our lives. In order to be relevant, it wants to be utilised to produce innovations that are driven by opportunity.

Technologies as a competitive benefit?

A lot of corporations list a technologies as one particular of their competitive positive aspects. Is this valid? In some cases yes, but In most situations no.

Technologies develops along two paths – an evolutionary path and a revolutionary path.

A revolutionary technologies is one particular which enables new industries or enables options to problems that were previously not attainable. Semiconductor technologies is a excellent instance. Not only did it spawn new industries and goods, but it spawned other revolutionary technologies – transistor technologies, integrated circuit technology, microprocessor technologies. All which supply a lot of of the merchandise and solutions we consume today. But is semiconductor technology a competitive benefit? Searching at the number of semiconductor organizations that exist now (with new ones forming each and every day), I’d say not. How about microprocessor technologies? Once again, no. Lots of microprocessor corporations out there. How about quad core microprocessor technologies? Not as a lot of providers, but you have Intel, AMD, ARM, and a host of providers creating custom quad core processors (Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, etc). So once more, not much of a competitive benefit. Competitors from competing technologies and simple access to IP mitigates the perceived competitive advantage of any distinct technology. Android vs iOS is a superior example of how this functions. Both operating systems are derivatives of UNIX. Apple made use of their technologies to introduce iOS and gained an early marketplace benefit. On the other hand, Google, using their variant of Unix (a competing technology), caught up fairly speedily. The reasons for this lie not in the underlying technologies, but in how the items produced feasible by those technologies had been brought to industry (cost-free vs. walled garden, and so forth.) and the variations in the strategic visions of every single enterprise.

Evolutionary technologies is one which incrementally builds upon the base revolutionary technology. But by it’s quite nature, the incremental transform is easier for a competitor to match or leapfrog. Take for example wireless cellphone technology. Business V introduced 4G products prior to Business A and though it may perhaps have had a quick term advantage, as soon as Firm A introduced their 4G goods, the advantage due to technologies disappeared. The consumer went back to selecting Organization A or Corporation V primarily based on price tag, service, coverage, what ever, but not based on technology. Therefore technologies may well have been relevant in the quick term, but in the extended term, became irrelevant.

In today’s world, technologies tend to quickly turn into commoditized, and inside any certain technology lies the seeds of its own death.

Technology’s Relevance

This write-up was written from the potential of an finish client. From a developer/designer standpoint factors get murkier. The further one is removed from the technology, the less relevant it becomes. To a developer, the technologies can look like a product. An enabling solution, but a product nonetheless, and thus it is extremely relevant. Bose utilizes a proprietary signal processing technology to enable items that meet a set of marketplace needs and as a result the technology and what it enables is relevant to them. Their consumers are more concerned with how it sounds, what’s the price, what’s the quality, and so on., and not so significantly with how it is achieved, therefore the technologies made use of is significantly significantly less relevant to them.