disruptive innovation

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  • Recommended Reading: the theory of disruptive innovation, the curse of Xanadu and more

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    06.22.2014

    Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The Disruption Machine by Jill Lepore, The New Yorker !function(d,i){if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement("script");j.id=i;j.src="https://widgets.getpocket.com/v1/j/btn.js?v=1";var w=d.getElementById(i);d.body.appendChild(j);}}(document,"pocket-btn-js"); There's a lot of different theories about how markets evolve, but that of disruptive innovation has proven quite popular over the last several decades. But if you ask Jill Lepore of the New Yorker it's an incomplete theory. While it's more than capable of explaining why businesses fail it doesn't really account for more complex changes. It's not like the theory of evolution, it's merely "an artifact of history." But it's still an interesting prism through which to view everything from the shift to 5.25-inch floppy disks to the downfall of the American auto industry.