brain-dump that's rarely reread or edited or even updated
The question to ponder upon is: how did screen sharing between two users start? Who came up with the idea? Why were they able or unable to execute the idea then? What changed later when whole markets were built on the same idea, sometime later?
Enabling IT support is a new industry. The general idea is to outsource non-core work, which has been good since the industrial age for knowledge workers. The question is: would this trend continue, or would it change? What’s the problem with outsourcing? It’s got an agenda of its own and might not think about what’s best for the outsourcing company.
The internet has enabled the distribution of content, which has led to the creation of a whole lot of new markets.
The iPhone is not a new market. It’s just following the desktop computing industry.
Desktop computers are a new industry that helped enable a whole lot of industries.
Railroads enabled the distribution of physical goods, while the internet enabled the distribution of intellectual goods. The gap between the speed of distribution presents an opportunity. Does this opportunity mean a new business or a new industry?
When you become too big to fail and offer a lot of services, there would come a time when someone else would strip away a particular division from your company and offer a better solution.
When companies stop innovating on a product, is it a time to consolidate the industry, or is it a time to build something even leaner and new?
Vertical solutions would probably lead to the next generation of markets - the second-order effects. The horizontal solutions (too big to fail) enable the rise of vertical companies.
Working at the speed of thought can be one of the parameters to identify the possibility for a company to eventually stumble upon a new market-defining opportunity. For example, writing a letter and sending it with a rider evolved into writing a letter and emailing it on the internet, creating a new industry.
What else could lead to the creation of new industries and markets?