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Progress may move at different speeds, but it always moves forward. The tech genie is out of the bottle, and nothing will ever put it back! Smartphones are ubiquitous around the world. Billions of people use them globally, and we’re returning to the pre-digital world.
Sometimes, our devices change faster than industries themselves, and stagnant business models that haven’t changed in decades are ripe for fixing. Some visionaries are adept at imagining better ways for a sector to operate.
Let’s check out a few disruptive technology case studies to appreciate why it’s necessary.
Real Estate Technology
Real estate was bought and sold the same way for decades, with the exception that agents made more money on their commissions as the prices of homes skyrocketed over time. Disrupter Regan McGee noticed that there was a simpler way to buy and sell homes and created his app Nobul to address the market’s shortcomings.
In an interview with Toronto Life, McGee explains that “people think buying and selling real estate is complicated, but that’s a way for agents to justify their fees.” Now, anybody can list their budget and describe what they’re looking for in a property.
Agents will compete to represent them, offering additional services or even cash back as an incentive. Homebuyers can pick whichever agents meet their needs best, and they have verified user reviews and reliable data to guide them.
Real estate agents can’t pay to get listed or ranked, and because all communication is strictly through the app, the agents never get homebuyers’ sensitive personal data or contact information. Millennials and first-time homebuyers learn what questions to ask before signing a mortgage, so they don’t get burned.
Get curated listings right to your phone as soon as they hit the market. Getting what you need with less effort and money is what disruptive technology is all about.
Transportation
Perhaps no disruption conversation is complete without mentioning Uber, which supplanted a stagnant taxi industry to become an international giant. Uber gave control back to passengers by creating an app that let them know how much a ride would cost in advance and their driver’s location.
Sure, rides have dramatically gone up in cost since the company launched years ago. Almost every startup aims to be the Uber of their industry, and Uber now works alongside restaurants to deliver food and goods.
Public Health
Modernizing public health has let us do some wonderful, crucial things right when we need them most, like electronic health records and vaccine passports. Had society left public health to remain analogue, it’s hard to say where we’d be right now.
Nobody expected a global pandemic in 2020, and while society could have responded differently and better, everyone was grateful we had digitized aspects of public health.
Computers have powerful computational processors, but they must be pointed in the right direction. Disrupters often see what needs improvement before anyone else, then leverage the tech to make it happen. If you use digital products or modern services, you probably have a disrupter to thank.
