Digital Media

It comes, leaves an impact and changes everyone’s perception, view and thought! The world is all different. That’s disruptive technology.

Human wants for coziness compels the market to get innovative and from out of nowhere a disruptive technology or concept pops up. Disruptive technology is a technology or concept that have features which very few and generally new segment of the customers value. Products built or developed using this technology are usually cheaper, simpler, smaller and better performing. One of the most popular examples that qualify for this is the transistor that totally replaced the well known Vacuum tubes.

We have seen this happen for countless time in various fields. It might be in the automobile sector, music industry, or a simple VCD, DVD renting business.

In the automobile industry, who can even imagine in their hind sight that GM will be filing for bankrupt protection? This is all because of foreign company’s compact vehicles and hybrid engine technologies. GM has lost its monopoly in the US market only because of the disruptive technologies adopted by foreign companies.

More recently in the music industry, Apple left every other competitor way behind by just combining functionality, stylishness and price on their iPod player with an accessible online iTunes music store. Nobody would have dreamt of the combo of all these features at such a price.

Let’s check an example out which will show how a disruptive concept compel one business following the sustaining technology model, completely out of business. We all are very well known to the business house “Blockbuster” who deals in renting DVDs and VCDs. They are really doing very well until there arrives a business of same kind but with different concept called “Netflix”. They just change the life of a Blockbuster visitor by just making the whole process online. That’s called disruptiveness. Blockbuster tried to remain in the business by making their business online, but alas it’s too late dear. There’s an unconfirmed news too that suggest Netflix bought all of the Blockbuster business and provided some respite to their employees! Do not quote me on that.

“Honey, do you want to see a movie tonight? We can have the kids at my mom’s!”

Telephone is considered as a disruptive discovery. Nowadays we are so dependent on this technology that it is difficult to imagine that when it was first introduced in 1877, people had to be convinced that it was useful. Despite its simple design and seemingly obvious value, it took 75 years for the telephone to reach 50 million users, and it wasn’t until the 1960s that users saw a residential phone as a necessity.

A disruptive technology always has at least one advantage over existing technologies that despite its disadvantages the idea allows it to find a niche, and therefore survive. If the technology is able to improve, typically more rapidly than the existing technology, and also starts performing equally with the existing technology, or at least sufficiently for the market needs, but with the added advantages that it had that allowed it to survive then as a result the existing market steps over to the new technology and the old one literally dies.

Disruptive is the word that has a changing and impacting effect on our life. So remain open to it and embrace the technology gleefully to make the life easy and smooth. Get that iPod off your ears as you read and comment on this – that’s the most recent disruptive wonder we have had in popularity!

A June 23, 2005 news release from the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, states that home computer owners are slightly more likely to be business owners than non-computer owners. This report reveals that technology and computing has become an inseparable ingredient in the business world today.

The Computer Trend – A Brief History

The last two decades have marked an enormous increase in the number of home computers. With it, computer owners have invariably taken to entrepreneurship in many varied fields. Thanks to the growth of technology, computers and the Internet, new methods have been developed for processing everyday business activities easily. Without the advent of technology, routine tasks would otherwise have taken and enormous amount of time and specialization. Undoubtedly, the computer represents the top technology development in the last century as it relates to businesses today, both large and small. Advances in the field of technology have created a vast number of business opportunities.

Some Statistics

In 2003, the U.S. Small Business Administration produced a report/survey that established conclusively that more than 75% of small businesses owned computers and had heavily invested in new technology. Let us try to understand what the computers mean to businesses and how they contribute to increase their productivity.

USE OF COMPUTERS IN BUSINESSES

The fundamental reasons for the popularity of computers with small businesses are their efficiency, speed, low procurement cost and more than anything else, capability to handle multiple tasks with little chance for error.

Office Routines: Almost invariably, businesses loaded with the burden of increasing workloads and the pressures of being lean and mean, fall back upon technology for most of their administrative tasks. This work includes, among others, bookkeeping, inventory managing and email. The advent of the Internet has also substantially contributed in bringing down the costs of communication and marketing. In a nutshell, technology has reduced the overall cost of business operations.

New Business Opportunities: The explosion of Internet and e-commerce has opened up a plethora of opportunities for all types of businesses. New management methodologies, such as Six Sigma are easier to implement due to statistical software. Also, companies are able to train their own employees using in-house Six Sigma software programs, and as a result, save money on labor costs.

It is now possible to have many business functions operate on autopilot. This has opened up new opportunities for software development companies and business consultants. Another business trend that has opened up as a result of advancing technology is outsourcing. It is now possible for a company in America to have its data entry and customer service centers in overseas countries such as the UK. In this way, companies can service their customers 24/7.

Indispensable Components of Small Businesses

It is difficult to think of a situation where businesses can do without technology and computers today. It is extremely difficult to say whether businesses depend on computers or computers created business opportunities.

Software Specific To Small Businesses

Certain powerful, yet simple software has come to the rescue of small businesses in reducing their tasks and opening up new channels. Simple applications like spreadsheets and word processing helps them maintain accounts, finances and keep track of correspondence. These applications allow the users to customize reports and other functions to suit their particular business.

Drawbacks

Both men and women in business have adapted successfully to new technology. But the SBA report cites the general decline in skill levels of people, which may eventually result in an overall reduction of income levels. It seems that people get used to technology doing all the work and tend to neglect their skill development. It is up to individual companies to make sure that their employees are still able to do crucial tasks without the assistance of computers, if necessary.

Space science is the study of everything above and beyond the surface of the Earth, from Earth’s atmosphere to the very edges of the universe. Space Technology refers to the technology in satellites and ground systems used by space scientists to study the universe (looking up) and the earth (looking down), or to deliver services to users on the ground. The vast majority of satellites are launched into space to provide services to people on Earth.

Satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon. Space is the property of the universe, in which matter is physically extended and objects have positions relative to one another.

In classical mechanics, space was treated as being separate from time and is thought of as one of the few fundamental physical quantities. In Isaac Newton’s view space was absolute, and held that it exists permanently and independently of whether there is any matter in the space or moving through it.

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft. Space exploration has often been used as a proxy competition for geopolitical rivalries such as the Cold War.

The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 (East 1), carrying 27 year old cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. The spacecraft completed one orbit around the globe, lasting about 1 hour and 48 minutes. Gagarin’s flight resonated around the world; it was a demonstration of the advanced Soviet space program and it opened an entirely new era in space exploration — human spaceflight.

Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Atlantis and Endeavour.) When first flown in 1984, Discovery became the third operational orbiter, and is now the oldest orbiter in service. Discovery has performed both research and International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions.

Space technology is technology that is related to entering space, maintaining and using systems during spaceflight and returning people and things from space.

Space technology has a huge impact on the everyday lives of people; and something as simple as checking the weather or watching satellite television or receiving a parcel guided by satellite, it touches most people’s lives on any given day.