Law of disruption

The Law of Disruption refers to the way in which innovative technologies disrupt the social order or status quo. It first appeared in the book "Unleashing the Killer App". According to the authors, societal change is incremental (linear) while technological change is exponential. [Downes, Larry "Unleashing the Killer App" (2000) 8.] This disparity often leads to physical capabilities that far exceed the capacity societal norms can handle. For instance, technology such as trains or boats may bring a wave of immigrants to a country that is not yet comfortable with foreign cultures. Since attitudes of a population take time to evolve--through death, rebirth and adoption of new beliefs--while superior technology often proliferates rapidly, in this example the xenophobia would exist much longer than the antiquated means of transportation.

Entrenched Player's Dilemma

The Law of Disruption creates the Entrenched Player's Dilemma. The primary victims are industrial and political leaders. In most cases, entrenched players are not motivated to utilize or transition into disruptive technology because it means cannibalizing current profits. [Tapscott, Don "Wikinomics" (2006) 174.] Fear of losing their primary revenue stream and their incapability of understanding the radical new changes in technology causes the status quo to freeze or self-destruct instead of adapting to the changed circumstances. [cite web
url = http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/01/17/the-entrenched-player-dilemma/
title = The Entrenched Player Dilemma/Opportunity
publisher = Techcrunch
author = Michael Arrington
date = January 17 2007
accessdate = 2008-01-13 ]

"Television redefines the relationships of family and community; cloning challenges basic understandings and definitions of character and personhood. Electronic commerce has caught national and local governments completely off guard, and while they scamper to figure out how to apply whomever's law, the technology continues to evolve into forms less and less analogous to enterprises with which they are familiar." - Larry Downes, "The Law of Disruption" [cite web
url = http://www.killer-apps.com/contents/booktour/the_law_of_disruption_or_secondorder_effects.htm
title = 1.7 Law of Disruption
publisher = Killer-Aps.com
author = Larry Downes
date =
accessdate = 2008-01-13 ]

Fall Out

Alvin Toffler in "Powershift" writes that a "...revolutionary new system cannot spread without triggering personal, political, and international conflict." [Toffler, Alvin "Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century" (1991) 10.] Because current personal, political and international relations rest upon the old system any new comer holds the possibility of upsetting that balance. In the midst of the "dilemma," chaos reigns.

ee also

* Disruptive Technology
* Future shock
* Killer application
* Metcalfes Law

Notes