What exactly is the Relevance of Technology?

"Technology inside the long-run is irrelevant". That is what a shopper of mine explained to me after i manufactured a presentation to him a few new products. I'd been talking about the product's features and rewards and stated "state-of-the-art technology" or anything to that influence, as one of them. That is when he made his statement. I noticed later that he was appropriate, at the least inside the context of how I made use of "Technology" in my presentation. But I started thinking about whether he might be right in other contexts as well.

What's Technology?

Merriam-Webster defines it as:

one

a: the sensible application of data especially in a specific region: engineering 2

b: a functionality offered via the simple software of data 

2


 * a fashion of accomplishing a undertaking primarily employing specialized processes, strategies, or know-how

3


 * the specialised components of a selected subject of endeavor

Wikipedia defines it as:

Technological know-how (from Greek tÎ­???, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand"; and -???Î¯a, -logia[1]) could be the generating, modification, use, and knowledge of instruments, equipment, techniques, crafts, units, and approaches of corporation, so that you can resolve an issue, make improvements to a preexisting answer to a challenge, realize a goal, deal with an applied input/output relation or execute a particular purpose. It might also refer to the collection of this kind of equipment, which includes equipment, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Systems considerably have an affect on human as well as other animal species' capability to manage and adapt to their normal environments. The term can possibly be utilized generally or to specific places: examples incorporate development technology, professional medical technological know-how, and knowledge technological know-how.

The two definitions revolve around the exact issue - software and use.

Technological know-how is surely an enabler

Lots of people mistakenly think it really is technology which drives innovation. But through the definitions over, that may be plainly not the case. It is actually prospect which defines innovation and technology which allows innovation. Assume on the vintage "Build an even better mousetrap" case in point taught in the majority of small business faculties. You could have the technological innovation to construct a better mousetrap, however, if you haven't any mice or the outdated mousetrap works well, there isn't a prospect and afterwards the engineering to develop a better a person gets irrelevant. Around the other hand, for anyone who is overrun with mice then the chance exists to innovate an item applying your technology.

A different case in point, a single with which I am intimately familiar, are purchaser electronics startup companies. I've been affiliated with both of those those who succeeded and people that unsuccessful. Each and every possessed exceptional foremost edge systems. The primary difference was opportunity. The ones that failed could not discover the possibility to establish a meaningful innovation working with their engineering. In reality to survive, these providers had to morph in many cases into one thing completely distinctive and if they ended up fortunate they could take advantage of derivatives in their original technological know-how. Extra normally than not, the original engineering wound up from the scrap heap. Know-how, so, is undoubtedly an enabler whose supreme value proposition is to make enhancements to our lives. So that you can be pertinent, it ought to be used to build improvements that happen to be driven by possibility.

Technology like a competitive gain?

Many companies checklist a technological know-how as just one in their competitive strengths. Is that this valid? In some instances of course, but Typically no.

Technology develops along two paths - an evolutionary path plus a revolutionary route.

A innovative engineering is a single which permits new industries or enables answers to challenges that were beforehand not possible. Semiconductor technological know-how is a superb instance. Don't just did it spawn new industries and merchandise, but it really spawned other groundbreaking systems - transistor engineering, built-in circuit technology, microprocessor technological innovation. All which offer most of the services and products we take in today. But is semiconductor technology a aggressive gain? Looking at the amount of semiconductor companies that exist right now (with new ones forming on a daily basis), I would say not. How about microprocessor know-how? Once more, no. Numerous microprocessor providers in existence. How about quad core microprocessor technologies? Not as many firms, but you have Intel, AMD, ARM, along with a host of providers constructing customized quad main processors (Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, etcetera). So again, not much of the competitive benefit. Competitors from competing systems and straightforward access to IP mitigates the perceived competitive benefit of any unique technological know-how. Android vs iOS is a superb illustration of how this functions. Both of those operating systems are derivatives of UNIX. Apple applied their technology to introduce iOS and received an early industry advantage. Nevertheless, Google, employing their variant of Unix (a competing engineering), caught up rather swiftly. The explanations for this lie not inside the underlying technologies, but in how the merchandise built attainable by all those technologies had been brought to market (totally free vs. walled yard, and many others.) plus the distinctions in the strategic visions of each and every business.

Evolutionary technological know-how is a person which incrementally builds on the base revolutionary know-how. But by it is very mother nature, the incremental transform is less complicated for the competitor to match or leapfrog. Acquire one example is wireless cellphone technology. Enterprise V introduced 4G merchandise just before Enterprise A and whilst it could have experienced a brief term edge, once Enterprise A released their 4G items, the gain resulting from know-how disappeared. The customer went back again to choosing Enterprise A or Enterprise V according to selling price, provider, protection, whichever, but not based upon technologies. Hence know-how may have been suitable inside the shorter expression, but from the long-lasting, grew to become irrelevant.

In today's earth, technologies have a tendency to immediately turn into commoditized, and within any specific technology lies the seeds of its have death.