Technology of the Disruptive Variety
Every so
often, a common expression in the English language takes
on a more colorful and descriptive meaning. A phrase
such as, “throw the baby out with the bath water” could
often be misunderstood. Really, it is an saying alluding
to a practice several centuries ago when hot running
water was unavailable. Whole families bathed one after
another in front of the fire in a single tub.
Traditionally, the man of the house bathed first, then
his wife, the children, and finally, the baby. By this
time, the water would be so dirty that an immersed
infant could not be seen. The phrase ultimately evolved
as the older family member said to the assigned
tub-drainer, “Remember not to throw the baby out with
the bath water.” Other phrases are equally as
interesting if you just take a short trip backwards in
time to understand their derivation. We will eventually
get to the point through the use of metaphors,
anecdotes.
Another metaphor that has been passed down over the
years is the phrase, “acid test.” We use this term in
modern English to express the ultimate, best, or even
the final confirming test. However, the derivation comes
from a very precise meaning. Before governments
arbitrarily informed their citizens exactly how much
their silly money was worth, coins were made of precious
metals; obviously, the most valuable were made of gold.
Before we became sophisticated and created a value for
scrap paper, nitric acid was used to determine the
purity of gold as a currency. Along the same lines, the
term level best—a term that now means one’s very best
effort—originally came from the metaphor of gold-panning
in 19th century America. For the best results, the pan
was kept as level as possible in order to see any
fragments of gold.
A Straw Man, today, means a person placed in a position
to confuse an issue. In medieval England, a proper
occupation for poor men would be to skulk in the region
of the law courts, offering to be a false witness for
anyone that had their price. They confirmed their
availability to lie for either side by wearing a straw
in their shoe.
However, this is not meant to be a dissertation on the
origination of phrases or metaphors—I merely wanted to
use them as a way to slide gently into an explanation of
the term “disruptive technologies”. You have all heard
the term, but the question is, when you see one of these
things how do you really know that it is indeed
disruptive? In order to be disruptive a product has to
make into the marketplace and that is what makes it
disruptive, it eliminates the need for something else or
it immediately becomes critical to own.
In
reality, the term means exactly what it sounds like.
Generally, a disruptive technology is any new concept
that has the availability of changing the way things are
accomplished, and doing so on a grand scale. Disruptive
technologies are usually created only after the
underlying foundation of their conceptualization has
been accomplished. For example, the wheel had to be
invented before a car could be built, a crane had to
exist before a skyscraper could be fashioned, and
synthetic wings had to be fashioned before the concept
of a plane could even be conceived. Without the proper
foundation, there is no innovation; however, we are now
living in a time of exponential knowledge foundation
growth.
Although it is rare, inventors can sometimes work
backwards and erect the building blocks by creating a
scientific formula proving that something will work. In
this case, you will need a different type of foundation
block, those physics and mathematical formulations that
have been created over the centuries. In short, whether
you need physical building blocks, formula based
building blocks or chemically based building blocks;
almost never does a new theory come out of thin air.
However, building the contraption would certainly be
“pushing the envelope,” a phrase that originally meant
to push and aircraft beyond its know limit, potentially
putting the pilot in harm’s way.
An interesting example of this concept would be the
atomic bomb, a perception almost inconceivable for its
time. We had literally only discovered bits and pieces
about how atoms, electrons and the like even worked and
yet the fact that the atomic bomb could be built was
based on a rather simplistic scientific formula; e=mc˛.
Scientists’ discovery that this amount of energy existed
inside of an atom was not particularly helpful in
building the bomb’s essential infrastructure. But the
fact that it could be done, created the inertia to build
the thing. The United States became interested this type
of project on August 2, 1939, when Albert Einstein wrote
a letter to President Roosevelt that Germany was
attempting to purify Uranium-235 and build an atomic
bomb. Roosevelt determined that the threat was real and
started the Manhattan Project, literally creating the
city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In order to create the
bomb, experts in enriching uranium first had to create a
chain reaction. The extraction and conversion of uranium
to uranium metal required gas-centrifuge experts to pull
uranium 235 from the isotope uranium 238. This entailed
the creation of the largest enrichment plant ever
conceived, and for the unheard-of concept of magnetic
separation. Two billion dollars were spent between the
years 1939 to 1945, and when the first atomic reaction
was staged, success was a touch and go situation. (An
expression evolving from the days of horse-drawn
carriages, when wheels of two vehicles touched but no
damage was done. Thus, the two carriages could go on
their way.)
War is
often the “Mother of Invention,” meaning that when your
life depends upon the creation of a defensive or
offensive weapon, you will put all your resources behind
the project and probably come up with something that
will work. However, it is easier to diagram a projected
advance than it is to manufacture it in quantity. Today,
it is important to make the quality first rate. After
you have accomplished that step, you can just go ahead
and use your product whether or not you are sure if it
will work. Hitler’s V-1 Rocket, which was supposed to
destroy London, was more a joke than a weapon. However,
their scientists learned from their mistakes and created
the V-2, a weapon that was deadly. By creating a product
with “warts and all”, it may well be refined into
something that does the job. Oliver Cromwell coined this
phrase while instructing his portrait painter Peter Lely
to paint his true likeness, including '...roughness,
pimples, warts and everything.’ But that was an unusual
action for the times.
However, economic war and battles between nations are
highly different combat zones. You may not die from
economic combat, but you can certainly come out of
marketing and production competition economically
impaired. The VCR was an outstanding product, but in
spite of its timely arrival on the technology stage, two
companies almost simultaneously created the same product
and a methodology that worked in similar fashions. As
indicated earlier, all of the basic technologies had
already been created and it became a matter of
integration instead of invention. Integration can become
highly complex, especially among products that have
different ways of achieving the same result. Sony had
what was called Beta, Panasonic created the VHS and it
became a marketing power struggle for one leader to
emerge. Panasonic and Sony attempted to stack the deck.
They each licensed as many large companies that they
thought could move their product and then started a
pervasive advertising campaign that lasted for years.
Panasonic was indeed, now “sitting in the catbird seat.
The derivation of this phrase stems from the Mocking
Bird which is also known as a cat bird. The Mocking bird
can always be found at the pinnacle of the tree which
gives them a great view of prey and predators. Thus,
they are almost never taken by surprise.
At
Chapman, we see technology every day of the week, and
certainly everyone that walks into our office believes
that they have just invented the perfect mouse trap.
People become very defensive about their creations,
whether or not they make sense. However, the competition
to discover new technology rises. More and more people
do their homework and the number of people with the
ability to create has risen geometrically.
The
Internet has created a visible encyclopedia, containing
a substantial portion of the world’s knowledge. Every
day that goes by, geometrically more people are becoming
well-read and sophisticated. Between India and China,
almost 2.5 billion people have recently joined the
world’s knowledge base. Years ago, it was hard to find a
college graduate in the United States. Today, education
seems to be de rigor. With so many people being
regularly added to the world’s intellectual competition,
Chapman, Spira and Carson, LLC (Chapman) expects that
innovation is going to be enhanced at, literally, an
exponential rate. As innovation runs the gambit of
industries, new technologies will become more difficult
to identify as to their success or failure. An
interesting observation was recently made by the United
States Patent Office in which they noticed that when
large scientific symposiums are held, the number of
patent applications increase dramatically. What the
attendees have found at the meeting is another building
block that did not exist before, and they can use that
block to solve a particular riddle that was impairing
their project.
However, at the same time, we at Chapman feel extremely
comfortable with what we perceive to be our role in the
impending intellectual avalanche. Innovation, while
continuing to be the key to our progress, is in
addition, the key to wealth. Intellectual property
rights, which were considered a mockery not too many
years ago, are being adopted and protected by more and
more countries. Here in the United States, anyone can
protect their concepts with a patent, provided they have
a novel concept or invention that they thought of first.
Through honing our skills in attempting to understand
numerous forms of technology and the singularity of
marketing these innovations, Chapman has become an
influential and reliable authority in structuring the
detection of those products of our generation will be
the ones to carry the label, disruptive technology and
become a must have products. Creating a new artifact is
not nearly enough; the critical components are quality,
price and need. They are a tightly clustered package and
one cannot stand without the others.
Packaged delivery is an equally important step in the
evolution of a world class innovation. Even if you have
developed the most beautiful and inexpensive product
what would appear to be a astounding price, it will not
matter if no one knows that it exists. Communications,
advertising and marketing skills are a requisite for
success, no matter what that product may be. Take the
sad demise of Nicholas Tesla for example. Tesla
literally was able to beat Thomas Edison to the
invention table with numerous discoveries now credited
to the Wizard of Menlo Park. However, it was Edison who
knew how to protect himself from an intellectual
property point of view. Edison knew how to profit from
either what he had created or what he had stolen,
whatever the case may have been. Tesla was unable to
“read between the lines,” as Edison picked his brain
dry. The phrase comes from the fact that in earlier
times, mail was not particularly private and people had
to resort to extreme measures to keep anything a secret.
They would write with some sort of “invisible ink”
between the written lines and that ink could only be
seen when an agent was added to the mix such as heat,
carvings or acid.
Tesla,
who invented numerous disruptive technologies- perhaps
more than any person who ever lived, died in the poor
house while Thomas Edison who pretended to by his
friend, picked him clean. Edison was a self-promoting
egomaniac who studied the art of protecting intellectual
property and died rich and famous. The art of the deal
as espoused by The Donald is not to invent for the pure
sake of invention but to leave a legacy and live a
comfortable life. This may not be a viable option
without a more complete knowledge of the law, marketing
and advertising nuances. Chapman and their associates
are holders of over a hundred patents and have been
members of every stock exchange. They are skilled at
arranging marketing portals for their clients.
Intellectually, we understand the system and our skills
have been utilized by such institutions as the United
Nations, the United States Congress and the American
Security Council’s National Advisory Board.
Let us
know your thoughts and we may be a valuable asset in
your reach for the stars.
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