Keep With the Times or Your Business Will Die Trying

Today we live in a world where the products of today are likely to be outdated in just a few months time. We see this with things like the hard drive in your computer. Only a few short years ago the thought of having a relatively cheap computer with multi-terabyte storage was insane, and being able to have a laptop that ran all day was impossible. Now it's common practice. Back in the early 2000's we used to take pictures with dinky little plastic cameras like the one below. Now though, your camera is on your phone. Along with your music player, games, contact book, email, internet and a million other functions. The world moved on quickly from pictures on film to pictures in cyberspace.

Image from Amazon

This was not something which Kodak took action on. They stubbornly decided not to move with the trend and believed that their product was superior to that which was being developed. Rather than see the future, which was digital photography, they chose to invest and pursue other ways of making their films better. Lets not forget that digital photography was something that Kodak themselves invented and yet chose to ignore.

It wouldn't probably be surprising then to say that because Kodak chose not to pursue the new digital form of picture taking, they ended up going broke. While everyone else was moving forward with the new, Kodak stuck with the old and the results of doing so are clear to be seen. Kodak is now no more.

So what can we learn from this? Well its important that any company can not only develop and build new technology, but also adapt to it if they can see a shift in the market. A business should also always be open minded to the idea of changing their flagship product, or tossing it out in favour of the new and the 'better'. Any company should also encourage firm testing and analytics of not just its products, but those being developed for implementation in the future. This is so as to accurately gauge their market worth and potential to drive sales.

In short then don't be like Kodak. Embrace new technology and embrace change because in the fluid world that we now live in, keeping up with the pack is life or death for any business.

As always thanks for reading and if you have any thoughts on this, please post in the comments section below.