Posts discussing products that originally of a mainly mechanical nature that are replaced by digital successors.
The incandescent lamp was the killer application of electrification. Just a couple of years ago it was decided to say goodbye to this lighting workhorse. An initially assumed successor – the Compact Fluorescent Lamp or CFL – was not embraced by consumers. Nevertheless, it pioneered the transition to energy-efficient lighting.…
Smartphones have become a hallmark of our time. The smartphone has enabled a stream of new applications and become a topic of many debates. Its presence is now being questioned during dinner, driving and in bed. Clearly it has an unavoidable nature and far reaching influence. This article is the third…
Word processor software has become an indispensable tool in our daily life. Remarkably, this software product appears to have evolved from the mechanical typewriter. This article is the first of a series of four on product evolution. They illustrate how technological evolution can explain ‘the origin of products’. Obviously, this…
This blog post reveals how the smartwatch is the result of technological evolution, rather than a predetermined long-term plan. Decades of competition between watch manufacturers who developed new functionality provided variation, while consumers applied selective pressure. This shaped the evolutionary path for the smartwatch. As there is no reason to…