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Learning from the Smartphone Industry [Futurist, The](Futurist, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Futurists can learn a lot from the smartphone industry's lessons, according to David Wood, co-founder of Symbian and chair of London Futurists. In an increasingly disruptive technological environment, the ability to integrate different types of technology is often the difference between failure and success for companies. Amazon achieved rapid success with the Kindle, thanks in part to the device's effective combination and integration of different types of technology. Wood cites the combination of cheap digital storage, customizable software, and energy-efficient screens as a large part of the Kindle's success. While new technologies often seem to pop up overnight, there's more to each product's developmental narrative than the public is aware of, Wood noted. Devices tend to emerge slowly, and it takes a long time to develop products and introduce them in a way that will be popular with audiences. For example, tablet computers had been in the works for decades before the iPad's mainstream success in 2012. In 1983, Steve Jobs announced his vision for "a great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes." And in 2002, Bill Gates introduced the Tablet PC, to the world's indifference. We can learn not only from the successes of companies such as Apple and Amazon, but also from the failures of companies like Motorola and Nokia. Companies often fail when they lose sight of their vision for one or two great products and try to produce a large number and range of products instead. -KH Keturah Hetrick is staff editor of THE FUTURIST and managing editor of Futurist Update. (c) 2014 World Future Society |