Unlached

When e-commerce first began back in the early days of the internet it levelled the playing field for all businesses, giving them the ability to sell goods online to customers around on a global, before this you had to go to the physical store to buy or at least have them order you the goods.

But e-commerce if nothing new, it’s a concept we all understand, but as web applications develop in sophistication and as users start to accept the internet more and more I have noticed something interesting. The internet is littered with companies that have gone to great lengths to make service industries extinct through innovation.

Below are some examples of some technologies that have either radically changed or have the potential to radically change their respective industries.

Orbitz: The travel industry has changed alot in the last t 10 years, it wasn’t that long ago that you would call up your local travel agent and get them to work their magic to find you the best deal, now you have site like Orbitz and Webjet who are the digital equivalent of your a travel agent. While travel agents still exist for international travel, it wont be too long before the entire industry is taken online as more people get comfortable with booking their over travel to in order to save money.

iStockphoto: iStockphoto is a market place for people looking to buy or sell photography. You can search a huge database of ‘stock’ photo submitted by any one with the ability to push a camera button, all the way to professional photographers who submit their professional portfolios. Here you can buy photos for as little as $2, think about this, before there was iStockphoto, if you wanted access to professional you could easily pay between $100 – $200 per photo. Think about that for a second. Overnight, the photography industry had their margins crushed by a massive 99%! Some amateur photographers managed to make some tidy extra cash, but many others saw their income take a drastic hit, and the photography is now changed forever.

Mycrolab – This product amazed me when I first saw it. This is probably a product most of you haven’t heard of before, but hopefully in the not too distant future we will all be hearing and even using this alot more. The Mycrolab is a DIY kit for medical diagnosis. A pocket sized device that can read a blood sample and diagnose a number of different illnesses. Over time as the technology and cost improves this device has the power to replace basic check ups from your local GP. In the future perhaps we can expect even more complicated diagnosis’ as the technology develops, this coupled with sites like WebMD will shake the foundations of the medical industry and see the Mycrolab (or a device like it) as common in households as the thermometer or a packet of band aids is today.

All of these products have or will change their own respective industries forever and it all boils down to one thing, everyone is embracing a DIY culture. Both because of the ability to save money, and because technology is helping to remove the technical barrier that would have stopped most people who otherwise wouldn’t have had the knowledge.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 27th, 2010 at 12:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.