How you Could invent the Future

You look around to the proclamation of disruptive innovation everywhere but what does it even mean?

• Uber disrupted the taxi industry
• Airbnb disrupted the hotel industry
• Google disrupted the internet
• Facebook disrupted friendships
• Instragram disrupted photography

How much of this is true and how much of it is media hype generated by these companies PR machines? The truth is innovation is almost always iterative development or progression of historical precedent.

That not to say these products are not a quantum leap forward in terms of usability or outcomes, its merely acknowledgement of the fact that since times of antiquity innovation has arisen as a result of individuals incrementally improving on current trends.

Quantum leaps are far rarer and, in fact, almost always unwise.

Why did Friendster fail while Facebook took over the world?

The answer is complex and tinged with nuance but the most obvious explanation is luck, implementation and timing. Bebo, MySpace, Friendster and numerous others were first into the space…