History has many examples of powerful companies that seem to be unbeatable. Then in a short time they become irrelevant due to new companies with new ideas. One of the factors in such transformation is technology. Never in history has technological change been so important in building and destroying companies. We look at few examples of successful companies that fail to address the chaning times and become disrupted. We also look at why technology emerges when it does and why some ideas can only be realised when certain conditions are met.
In this first lecture we set the tone for the course and define the themes that we will be looking at.
History has many examples of powerful companies that seem to be unbeatable. Then in a short time they become irrelevant due to new companies with new ideas. One of the factors in such transformation is technology. Never in history has technological change been so important in building and destroying companies. We look at few examples of successful companies that fail to address the chaning times and become disrupted. We also look at why technology emerges when it does and why some ideas can only be realised when certain conditions are met.
In this first lecture we set the tone for the course and define the themes that we will be looking at.
For the most time of human history, life was local and linear. Local in the way that anything that happened was close by, a least within a walking distance. Linear in the way that your life was the same as your father and your childs. Nothing changed.
Just like the evolution of man, technology improvements follow an evolutionary progress. New ideas or products are to begin with immature and fragile with slow improvements. Then the progress accelerates until the products become mature and taken for granted. Then the cycle repeats and a new layer of technology is added to the previous. This process is exponential. One such observation of exponential is Moore’s Law.
Any new technology that gets wide acceptance in society needs to be adopted by people. We will explore that type of people are the first to adopt new things, and what types come later.
At any given moment it is easy to look back to see how technology has changed over time. At the same time it is difficult to see what transformations are taking place in current moment, and even more difficult to see where things are going.
In the late 19th century a revolution in science took off. It was easy to see the vast number of inventions and entrepreneurial spirit of the time. At the dawn of the 20th century, it seems that everything had been invented. Yet, in the 20th century we saw more innovations and more technologically advanced than in all history of mankind before that. Never in history have we seen such dramatic changes in the way people live and work.
In this lecture we explore what to make of technology. We define the term we will use in the course. Terms defined are technology, product performance, and innovation to name few.
For the most time of human history, life was local and linear. Local in the way that anything that happened was close by, a least within a walking distance. Linear in the way that your life was the same as your father and your childs. Nothing changed.
Just like the evolution of man, technology improvements follow an evolutionary progress. New ideas or products are to begin with immature and fragile with slow improvements. Then the progress accelerates until the products become mature and taken for granted. Then the cycle repeats and a new layer of technology is added to the previous. This process is exponential. One such observation of exponential is Moore’s Law.
Any new technology that gets wide acceptance in society needs to be adopted by people. We will explore that type of people are the first to adopt new things, and what types come later.
At any given moment it is easy to look back to see how technology has changed over time. At the same time it is difficult to see what transformations are taking place in current moment, and even more difficult to see where things are going.
In the late 19th century a revolution in science took off. It was easy to see the vast number of inventions and entrepreneurial spirit of the time. At the dawn of the 20th century, it seems that everything had been invented. Yet, in the 20th century we saw more innovations and more technologically advanced than in all history of mankind before that. Never in history have we seen such dramatic changes in the way people live and work.
In this lecture we explore what to make of technology. We define the term we will use in the course. Terms defined are technology, product performance, and innovation to name few.
For the most time of human history, life was local and linear. Local in the way that anything that happened was close by, a least within a walking distance. Linear in the way that your life was the same as your father and your childs. Nothing changed.
Just like the evolution of man, technology improvements follow an evolutionary progress. New ideas or products are to begin with immature and fragile with slow improvements. Then the progress accelerates until the products become mature and taken for granted. Then the cycle repeats and a new layer of technology is added to the previous. This process is exponential. One such observation of exponential is Moore’s Law.
Any new technology that gets wide acceptance in society needs to be adopted by people. We will explore that type of people are the first to adopt new things, and what types come later.
At any given moment it is easy to look back to see how technology has changed over time. At the same time it is difficult to see what transformations are taking place in current moment, and even more difficult to see where things are going.
In the late 19th century a revolution in science took off. It was easy to see the vast number of inventions and entrepreneurial spirit of the time. At the dawn of the 20th century, it seems that everything had been invented. Yet, in the 20th century we saw more innovations and more technologically advanced than in all history of mankind before that. Never in history have we seen such dramatic changes in the way people live and work.
In this lecture we explore what to make of technology. We define the term we will use in the course. Terms defined are technology, product performance, and innovation to name few.
The objective of this course is to look at innovations and technology trends, learn from history, and using theories of innovations to study lessons and try to see patterns so we can evaluate new technology currently emerging and interpret the impact.
The objective of this course is to look at innovations and technology trends, learn from history, and using theories of innovations to study lessons and try to see patterns so we can evaluate new technology currently emerging and interpret the impact.
In the course we look at how to keep up to date on technology trends. In particular we will look at communications, wireless devices, mobile phones and the TV, home appliances, the Internet and other consumer devices. The course will discuss what future trends will emerge, which standards and companies will be successful, and the effects that the technology will have on society.
