Only a decade ago, the e-bike was considered something for the old or disabled. Improving technology and more attractive designs slowly changed perception. This blog explores how the e-bike matures in terms of market shares and establishes itself as a new type of product in a family of variants. Slow…
“To understand why a product is the way it is today, you need to learn about its evolutionary background.” Meet Huub Ehlhardt…. to interview
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…
The bicycle is back in the spotlight, but now it is the electric version that is attracting attention. After a very long incubation period it is clear that the e-bike is here to stay. Nevertheless, it would appear that the evolution of the e-bike is still ongoing. There are many…
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…
Can product development be considered an evolutionary process? Until the late 1980s product development was generally considered to be a ‘linear’ process. The common idea is that the development of products is entirely controlled by inventors and engineers. ‘On the Origin of Products’ by Arthur O. Eger and Huub Ehlhardt aims…
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…
This post discusses the tree of life metaphor in relation to man-made goods and includes a proposed figure depicting the evolution of man-made goods. For a long time I have been fascinated by both evolution in biology and innovation in technology. In 2010 this led to the start of…
This post discusses rates of speciation (the notions of gradualism versus punctuated equilibrium as used) in evolutionary biology and the extent to which change in products can be described as (dis)continuous. Is product innovation a matter of evolution or revolution? Biology One of the perennial controversies in evolutionary biology is the…