(c) Can Stock Photo
In today’s era of technology, smart is the buzz word, from smart phones to smart cars, even watches are now becoming smart. So what exactly do the companies who manufacture these “smart” products trying to sell? Is this just a glossy prefix introduced by savvy marketers to befoul the innocent consumer or are they providing a genuine value add to the end user.
To answer this question better, let us go back in time to the 1970’s, Ah yes those were the years, an era where there wasn’t much fuss. The only piece of technology was a radio and owning a car was a real luxury. Times were much simpler back then, people walked and jogged to burn calories and didn’t track the calories they burnt, yet the generation largely seemed fit. The food was not delivered fast, but at least it remained nutritious and socializing actually meeting someone new, and not online swiping left and right.
The early 80’s and 90’s ushered in a new array of products and all sorts of gizmos which aimed to convenience everyday mundane activities products such as the computer, mobile phones even the now ubiquitous house hold products like the refrigerator and microwave were invented and aimed at simplifying life. Automobiles too were becoming more fuel efficient, as consumers wanted a lesser pinch in their pocket. These two decades in essence provided a sound foundation for value maximization through innovation.
Cutting forward a few decades, the turn of the new millennium brought about extraordinary technological advancements. Computer systems became a norm in offices and mobile phones was becoming an important means of communication. This lead to a healthy and abundant availability of information. From Sports to Science, Automobiles to Agriculture every sector wanted to minimize efforts and maximize returns through technology, this was the golden decade of the technological era.
By the end of the decade, a rather dangerous trend had emerged, marketers started producing products and services mainly to provide more glamour, utility and value which was the benchmark of a manufacturer was slowly being replaced by being ostentatious products.
Since a few years now, innovation in the technology space has been staggering, most companies are banking on their previously successful products and releasing tweaked versions with cosmetic changes. It would be unfair to completely blame the manufactures, with tech cycles getting shorter by the day and obsolescence at every nook and corner, innovators have taken the old adage “Old wine in a new bottle” quite seriously, especially in the smart phone sector.
Does is really matter if a phones process information a couple nano seconds faster, most of the people do not even understand the true meaning of what is being sold to them, an apt example would be people measuring a camera’s clarity with mega pixels. Higher the mega pixels does not necessarily mean high camera quality, it simply means the picture captured and once printed results in better image on paper.
Path breaking innovation has become scarce, only a few companies who are in it to change the world as we know it, are either being strong armed by lobbyist or being acquired in a hostile way by the big companies, curbing the innovation at the behest of cost optimization.
The example quoted above is just a one off amongst the numerous inexplicable doltishness portrayed by a vast majority of people following the “herd”. We as consumers need to demand more value from the products on offer, we need to get off the bandwagon and question the usefulness of these products and services only then will innovators truly innovate and we able to move forward and embark on the next innovation cycle with path breaking products.
