Here’s a little fun (with a not-too-hidden message).
Question 1
How long from its invention did it take each of these technologies to reach 25% of the population:
- Electricity
- Telephone
- Radio
- Television
- PC
- Mobile Phone
- Web
- Smartphone
How did you do?
It won’t have escaped your notice that the time between invention and mainstream adoption became dramatically shorter for each new technology.
Let’s see how you score with some more recent innovations.
How long did it take each of these services to reach 1 million users:
- Netflix
- Kickstarter
- Airbnb
- Foursquare
- Dropbox
- Spotify
- ChatGPT
The key takeaway from this, we believe, is that the pace of technological innovation and adoption is accelerating.
And that has consequences for your business because if you fall behind the curve, you can get left behind as competitors and new entrants offer better, faster and more reliable products and services.
It won’t always be revolutionary. It could be as simple as incorporating AI into customer service or using 3D-printing for small components.
But an edge is sometimes all you need.
Which reminds me of the old joke: Two friends are hiking in the woods when they suddenly spot a bear charging toward them. One of them quickly starts putting on running shoes.
The other says, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!”
The first replies, “I don’t need to outrun the bear. I just need to outrun you.”
Make sure that you are the one with the running shoes.
Talk to us about how we can help you to leverage new technology to stay ahead of your competition.
[And see our earlier post: 10 Ways in which AI can give your business an edge.]