WotD: Disruptive technology

The one thing about disruptive technology, which is essential to know, is that it’s not always what you expect it to be.

All the items on the desk above have been termed disruptive technology at one time or another.

Disruptive technology is new technology that changes the way things are done. It disrupts companies and industries which can’t quickly adapt.

The computer completely revolutionized how documents are created and, in the process, eliminated many types of jobs while simultaneously creating new ones.

For a while, the Blackberry was the American President’s choice due to its revolutionary level of security and privacy.

Then we have the poster child for disruptive technology, the iPhone.

This device turned tech, mapmaking, telephone and many other industries upside down.

Just think of what Amazon and Uber have accomplished because smartphones enable people to order goods and services while on the go.

Japan’s largest telecommunications carrier initially made the grave mistake of ignoring it and quickly fell behind those that embraced it.

There is no doubt about the effects of disruptive modern technology, which we now take for granted, on our world.

It’s not only the near past where we can find new technology causing chaos.

Disruptive technology has existed since the first instance of human innovation.

The simple act of picking up a rock and throwing it at an animal or enemy changed how we hunt and fight.

We’ve been throwing things at animals and each other ever since.

We use bullets and missiles instead of rocks these days, but we still occasionally throw them.

My last example of disruptive technology will be the humble printing press.

With the invention of the Gutenberg printing press, it was possible to bring knowledge to the masses to interpret for themselves.

Knowledge is power, and easy access to the printed word made it possible for anyone, anywhere, to become educated.

The press was, in my opinion, the ultimate disruptive technology – and still is.

Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 9th-grade education (age 60 – 70).

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 54.

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.