I hope everyone had a great break! To start back into things, this week we have just one blog question that you need to answer based on the chapter by Barlow & Li (2010) "Disruptive Technologies and Applications" which you can find on Blackboard. Answer the following question:
Think about an example of a technology or system that has impacted on you, or on a situation/setting that you know about. Please describe what it was and what happened. In what ways (if at all) was this disruptive? (Please link your answer with 1-2 themes from the reading.)
Reminder: Groups should remember to update their topics / research questions in the post on the blog for your group.
Note: As always, if your comment does not show up at first, it may be stuck in the spam queue. I try to check it 1-2 times a day over the weekend and several times on Monday morning. If your post has not showed up, you do not need to post multiple times, but if you are concerned, please feel free to drop me an email and ask if it is in the spam queue.
Every morning I check my computer for emails, social activity on facebook and of course where I could save money on my spending through daily deal websites such as Treat Me or Daily Do on Grab One. Receiving these in email form also make it easier for many users of these websites to grab some bargains.
ReplyDeleteThese daily deal websites are examples of disruptive technology because they target and create new markets going under the theories of low end (as it provides far cheaper deals than the original priced products and services available for turning potential customers into active customers), new market (as the low prices offered also target another area of customers that the companies on these websites being promoted with more than 50% off deals, there is a wider target of customers that are attained though such internet advertising) and even top down disruption (as these deals introduce continuous long term transactions and relationships between the customers and company associated, for example spas will get repeat customers).
It is impacting in greater competition through targeting all customer targets. Showing expensive products and services priced at more than half off. Those who wish to spend more will become more aware, and those who want it for cheap will grab that bargain and may pursue interest depending on their experiences. These forms of advertising definitely outweigh advertising on, for example, billboards for companies, as it is guaranteed that some, if not all of the target customer market, is going to come to their venue to claim their deals.
If I owned a business and was not using these sites to promote my services and products, then this technology would definitely be disruptive as customers needs will not be met by my originally high prices unless my services and products were as good as Apple Ipods, that the customer market grows by the ‘craze’ of ‘needing’ what is there to offer.
A disruptive technology that is hitting the world right now is digital downloads of movies, TV shows and music. This new technology is slowly removing a market for retailing DVD’s and CD’s because it is cheaper to produce (no physical production or shipping costs) a digital download of the same item, which in turn means the publisher can sell it for a lower price. It is also more convenient to download one of these items since it can be obtained at any time, not just when your local store is open. It has both the advantage of being cheaper than traditional offerings and that it can be downloaded anytime.
ReplyDeleteThis new disruptive technology has also allowed new entrants like the Apple ITunes store to grab a huge swathe of market share very quickly which means that existing brick-and-mortar stores will have innovate further to retain or even gain new customers. They also used a strategy of low end disruption by selling single songs which were unable to be purchased in retail stores to grab customers.
As a web developer, one of the most important systems that I make use of every day is source control; that is, a mechanism to version code I write, and merge it with my colleagues code, controlling different versions from start to finish of a feature.
ReplyDeleteA good example of a disruptive technology within the domain of source control is a service called Github (https://github.com) - a service backed by the popular distributed versioning control protocol Git, and with the unique value of tying code to collboration and community tools.
Github was founded in 2008 by three web developers who, looking for a good hosted source control provider, could not find any adequate solutions. The most popular three years ago were Sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net), and Google Code (code.google.com). The problem was that these companies described themselves as providing 'code hosting', and used popular (but outdated) source control systems SVN and CVS - and that wasn't what Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Tom Preston-Werner were really looking for. They had been using Git for some time, and were enjoying it's potential for 'social coding' (the ethos upon which Github was founded) - as opposed to any other SC system, Git focussed on open-source development, allowing developers to 'fork' a project (make a copy that they could modify and use for themselves), 'commit' changes to it, and then send a 'pull request' back to the developer - a request to merge the changes they had made back into the original codebase. Three years later, Github has revolutized the entire development community, especially those communities based around open source. The company has almost double the commit traffic than it's competitors (https://github.com/blog/865-github-dominates-the-forges), and nearly one-million members, including such companies as Facebook (https://github.com/facebook), Yahoo (https://github.com/yahoo), and Twitter (https://github.com/twitter).
The reason that this particular service was disruptive was because it innovated, and built their platform around a central assumption, that coding should be social, and not simply 'hosted'. This innovation was introduced into a source-control market accustomed to free service, and has caused both low-end and new market disruption - the company introduced a basic model that worked for many customers, and created value for them based on convenience and simplicity, rather than price, and so captured low-end market share that enabled the company to quickly move up-market. Github's new market disruption arises from the company creating a market in low-end amateur developers who would not normally see the need to use a source control service, but who get a significant value from the ability to browse source code from within a web browser, and engage with a wide community of open-source developers and companies. The entire ecosystem of what Git and Github provides is based around constant innovation, so I expect that Github will sustain their advantage, to deliver even greater value to new and existing markets in the future.
Smart phones such as the Iphone, Blackberry and Samsung Galaxy are taking over the mobile phone industry and eliminating my need to bring a laptop and a mobile phone to the university. The smart phones grabbed a large share of the mobile phone market and are disrupting the sales of the mobile phones without the same functionality. They can have the same functionality of a mobile phone, texting and calling, while being able to access internet and download software just as a laptop would. It provides the convergence of computer and telecommunications device and is slowly displacing the mobile phone market as more and more software are changing to become compatible with smart phones.
ReplyDeleteAndroid phones allow the users to tap into the Android network where the users can download and upload software just as they can do on a laptop. It is an open source network where variety of developers around the world can aid Android’s developers. They allow people to interact with others on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter while being able to email others.
Recently while trying to organise my O.E I have been using a number of different online travel agencies. Sites such as Webjet and Expedia have increasingly made the way in which I can book my holiday easier, while making it much more affordable. Click and mortar convenience while still getting an overview of all that is available, at the best prices is disrupting the need to have to go into brick and mortar retail centres.
ReplyDeleteOnline Travel Agencies have quickly started to absorb a lot of the travel industries market share. Through more choice, better bargain hunting and costs Online travel agencies can outperform their brick and mortar counterparts.
The most impressive technology for me is the technology of blogs. In the old time of the Web 1.0, users are only allowed to read the information created by the website, but in web 2.0, users can create, edit, link and organize the content and styles easily. And blogs are websites containing information, personal diary and links which can be added and maintained. People can follow the people they are interested in to share the information. Moreover, more and more business take a good advantage of blogs to get more interaction with their customers. Additionally, blogs can also be a platform for study. Take the INFO 301 blog as an example, which is newness to me, for I never have the experience like that before. In this blog students can make comments on the topic and address their views, it really helps a lot in understanding the study materials.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Mansfield said:
ReplyDelete"I would consider customisable internet browsers to be an example of a disruptive technology. Many of the widely used browsers allow users to customise the way they view and access content. For example Firefox allows the installation of an application that blocks ads.
This is disruptive to businesses because it undermines how they traditionally believe customers access their content. If a business relied on ad revenue from people visiting their site then they might have to seek alternative methods if the revenue loss becomes too disruptive. Luckily for internet businesses browser applications such as ad block are assumed to need a high level of technical skill to use so they are not in popular use yet."
Anthony Mansfield
An example of disruptive technology is how we backup/save data. I would say the use of online storage and usb sticks have changed the way we store and retrieve data. The traditional method such as the use of floppy disks are no longer in use. Now a number of files can be backed up online without the need for floppy disks. Now I can backup everything on my computer without the need for a traditional storage method.
ReplyDeletecarrying money is another example and how we spend or receiving money by using internet banking in the world. speed and value provided are the reasons which internet become a big player.
ReplyDeletePosted priror to 12pm at 11:48am on 5/09/11 -
ReplyDeleteWeek 7
The function that internet streaming of movies, television shows, live/life streaming and video-games events is growing and plays an important part in facilitating New Media. As a Media Studies student websites such as 'Justin.tv', and 'Twitch.tv' can be used to watch International News without a cable subscription, watch television shows almost immediately without commercials and plays an important role in growing E-Sports events.
This is a disruptive technology towards the Entertainment Industry. No longer do I have to rely on DVD from a rental store or retailer, digital downloads or pay additional fees towards cable providers such as Sky Television. Advertisers can use this website to target a specific audience - e.g. Video-game streams can target 16-28 males in Halo: Reach streams. It also damages viewership as the reliance on the provider is reduced.
There is also the advantage of a Chat Function. This allows users to interact and have conversations about the appropriate shows to discuss storyline and comment on the scenes shown. This give real-time feedback for viewers that often occurs in offices around water-coolers.