Core 77 has a interesting piece about the consumer trend toward cheaper versions of existing products (primarily electronics) with reduced feature-sets and how they impact design and innovation. The article covers netbooks and cell phones, of course, but also looks at less-sexy technologies such as water filtration, power generation, and household appliances. These are considered “disruptive technologies” because they undermine the status quo — as long as the status quo is defined as ‘maximum functionality at premium prices’.
As Christensen pointed out again and again, “disruptive technologies were exactly those that did not appeal to entrenched market leaders because they tended to under-perform existing technologies and served a less-profitable consumer demographic.”
I just searched the entire page for the term “iPad” and discovered it’s not there. I’d swear I had seen it mentioned, but it turns out to only have been strongly implied. The contrast between the article’s subject and the iPad is impossible to miss, especially if you realize that the iPad is not a disruptive technology — while technically underperforming, it fails one of the core criteria necessary to qualify as a “disruptive technology” — its ridiculously inflated price.
Tags: advertising, Apple, design, nerdy