Disruptive Innovation: Change Powered By Android

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November 1, 2013

A disruptive innovation improves a product in ways the market does not expect. For consumers, the disruption is welcomed by early adopters and quickly becomes the norm. Think of Cirque du Soleil as a disruptive innovation to the Ringly Bros. Circus. While change at Ringly Bros. meant deciding between one more elephant or two more elephants, Cirque du Soleil revolutionized the entire concept of a circus; using people instead of animals to create a highly visual performance. Similarly, Netflix was a disruptive innovation to the movie rental industry. By the time companies like Blockbuster reacted, it was too late. Now, as the possibilities for the Android operating system expand, businesses are being forced to adapt or die. Here are some ways Android technology is poised to cause some disruption to complacent markets.

Education

In the traditional brick-and-mortar world of higher education, the percentage of students enrolling in courses is increasing every year. Students and lifelong learners are able to view entire curriculum online from schools like Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Blackboard Collaborate is an online platform (available on Android devices) with a robust conferencing feature. Students can tune-in to class live on their mobile phone, ask questions, raise their hand, and take real time polls. So if you can’t make class, catch the meeting later on your mobile device. Simplicity and accessibility is the answer: colleges that do not adopt similar technologies are losing both tuition dollars and authority in global learning.

Remote Climate Control

Disruptive innovation, such as Climote, forever changes the way we heat and cool our homes. Climote lets you control the climate of your home from anywhere at anytime. Walking home in a sudden hailstorm? Crank the heat up using a simple swipe on this Android-powered application. All it takes is a 30 minute “fuss free installation” to replace your old time-clock climate control with the Climote HUB. Certainly, this is not the only Android product on the market that does this. Never before have people been able to remotely control the temperature in real time – what does it mean for traditional heating systems? Don’t be surprised if this technology quickly goes from “futuristic feature” to the standard operating procedure.

Business Idea Validation

No industry is safe from disruptive innovation. Take manufacturing for example: 3D printingis threatening this industry in the way that digital photography threatened Kodak. While the capabilities are still being tested, 3D printing is changing the way people validate business ideas. Have an idea for an improved bike-pedal? No need to contact a manufacturer and pay through the teeth for a prototype; simply design the product and get a prototype using a 3D printer. Through Android, the application MakerDroid on the Google Play network now that lets you draw 2D shapes printed in 3D. Although in beta, you can see the direction the world is going. Producing a minimum viable product is a reality and for entrepreneurs and designers, this is a game changer.