When horseless buggies (you might know them as cars) first arrived on the US scene in 1893, amidst all of the disbelief, there were a lot of buggy makers who thought these products were absurd and what the general population wanted was just fancier buggies. So they ignored these horseless contraptions with the smelly gasoline engines (not that horses don’t come with their own set of smells) and they concentrated on more luxurious versions of what had made them successful in the past — added more bells and whistles. It took years for the motor car to catch on but when it did there was no going back. The buggy and wagon wheel makers had to embrace the new technology or find a new industry. They could tailor their offerings to the new demand or they could continue to talk about why horses were better than engines. It was their choice. Some entered the horseless buggy game late but were still wildly successful by taking the motor car idea and filling a new niche; like what Ford did by bringing the automobile into economic reach for more people. You don’t have to be first to market with new technology, you just have to recognize what people want before they do.
When it comes to innovation, are you a buggy- or a car-marker?
