Exactly what is the Relevance of Technology?

"Technology while in the long-run is irrelevant". That is what a customer of mine explained to me once i produced a presentation to him about a new products. I had been talking about the product's capabilities and added benefits and outlined "state-of-the-art technology" or a little something to that effect, as 1 of these. That may be when he produced his assertion. I spotted later that he was accurate, at the very least throughout the context of how I applied "Technology" in my presentation. But I began pondering no matter if he can be ideal in other contexts too.

What on earth is Know-how?

Merriam-Webster defines it as:

1

a: the sensible application of information primarily within a particular area: engineering two

b: a ability provided via the functional software of information 

2


 * a manner of carrying out a activity especially making use of specialized processes, procedures, or knowledge

three


 * the specialized elements of a particular area of endeavor

Wikipedia defines it as:

Technology (from Greek tÎ­???, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand"; and -???Î¯a, -logia[1]) would be the generating, modification, usage, and expertise in equipment, machines, approaches, crafts, programs, and techniques of firm, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to some difficulty, realize a objective, handle an used input/output relation or execute a specific operate. It might also make reference to the gathering of this kind of applications, together with machinery, modifications, preparations and procedures. Systems significantly have an effect on human too as other animal species' capability to manage and adapt for their normal environments. The phrase can either be used typically or to distinct spots: illustrations include design know-how, health care know-how, and information technologies.

Both definitions revolve throughout the similar point - application and usage.

Technological innovation is really an enabler

A lot of people mistakenly think it really is technology which drives innovation. However within the definitions earlier mentioned, that may be clearly not the situation. It truly is possibility which defines innovation and engineering which enables innovation. Believe of your typical "Build a much better mousetrap" example taught in most business enterprise schools. You could have the technological know-how to make an improved mousetrap, however, if you have no mice or perhaps the aged mousetrap will work effectively, there is no possibility then the technological innovation to build an improved just one results in being irrelevant. Within the other hand, when you are overrun with mice then the chance exists to innovate an item utilizing your know-how.

A further case in point, one with which I'm intimately acquainted, are shopper electronics startup companies. I've been involved with each people who succeeded and those that failed. Every single possessed unique primary edge technologies. The main difference was chance. Those that failed couldn't locate the prospect to establish a meaningful innovation employing their technologies. In actual fact to survive, these firms had to morph quite often into something fully different and when they were being lucky they may take advantage of derivatives in their initial technologies. Extra typically than not, the initial technologies wound up during the scrap heap. Know-how, as a result, is definitely an enabler whose greatest value proposition would be to make improvements to our lives. As a way to be applicable, it must be utilized to develop innovations that happen to be pushed by chance.

Know-how as a aggressive gain?

Quite a few firms list a technologies as just one in their competitive positive aspects. Is that this valid? In certain instances sure, but Generally no.

Technological innovation develops along two paths - an evolutionary route plus a innovative route.

A innovative engineering is a person which permits new industries or permits options to issues which were earlier impossible. Semiconductor technological know-how is an effective instance. Don't just did it spawn new industries and products and solutions, but it spawned other revolutionary systems - transistor engineering, built-in circuit technology, microprocessor know-how. All which offer lots of the services and products we take in currently. But is semiconductor technologies a competitive edge? Checking out the number of semiconductor organizations that exist these days (with new kinds forming each day), I would say not. How about microprocessor technological innovation? Once again, no. A lot of microprocessor companies to choose from. How about quad core microprocessor know-how? Not as lots of businesses, however you have Intel, AMD, ARM, plus a host of providers setting up custom quad core processors (Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, and so forth). So again, not a great deal of a aggressive gain. Competitiveness from competing technologies and straightforward obtain to IP mitigates the perceived competitive edge of any individual technology. Android vs iOS is a good illustration of how this operates. Each working units are derivatives of UNIX. Apple utilized their technological know-how to introduce iOS and attained an early industry benefit. Even so, Google, employing their variant of Unix (a competing engineering), caught up rather promptly. The explanations for this lie not while in the underlying technology, but in how the products and solutions designed achievable by these technologies ended up delivered to industry (free of charge vs. walled back garden, etc.) plus the discrepancies during the strategic visions of each corporation.

Evolutionary technology is just one which incrementally builds on the base revolutionary technological innovation. But by it's very character, the incremental change is less complicated for just a competitor to match or leapfrog. Consider for example wi-fi cellphone technologies. Organization V launched 4G solutions prior to Business A and while it might have experienced a brief term gain, when Company A introduced their 4G merchandise, the gain due to technology disappeared. The consumer went back again to picking Company A or Enterprise V based on value, provider, protection, what ever, but not dependant on technological innovation. Therefore engineering may have been appropriate in the short expression, but in the lasting, turned irrelevant.

In the present environment, technologies tend to immediately become commoditized, and inside any certain technology lies the seeds of its individual death.