The Technology Tipping Point…

I know that as a technologist I sometimes struggle with the edge of success. Or as Malcolm Gladwell called it the tipping point. It is that exact moment when something goes from a hobbyist or cutting edge to the mass market. That moment when potential and market intersect and the product becomes something everybody has to have. For a time it was a gaming console. There was a time when every house had to have a gaming console. That isn’t the case now, but it was ten years ago. Flat screen TV’s were all the rage, and for the most part are still. Streaming services became the rage more than ten years ago, but haven’t slowed down. They, the streaming services have changed their business’ considerably. They now produce exceptionally interesting content that is only available on their service.

The tipping point is often a price point. Ninety-nine dollars, 99 cents all seem to be magical lines of demarcation. If it goes above either, then the interest in it changes. The two price points also follow game changers. In the mid-2000s most mobile applications cost between 4.99 and 19.99, the launch of the Apple iTunes store changed that to 99 cents. The 99 dollar price point seems to be magical for speakers, headphones and so on. What is interesting is what is included with the products today. A television of 2004 or 2005 might have HD picture. It might have HDMI, but at the very best resolution, it wasn’t anywhere near the TVs of today. It was also larger and heavier than the flat screens of today.

Now a TV has the android tv OS integrated, offers many more features than previously available. It always weights a lot less now and has a much better screen. The Tipping point for TV’s seems to be 499, and 999 depending on the overall features and size you are looking for. More expensive TV”s have more features and more slots for HDMI connections. Some of the newer TV”s actually have the Chromecast system built in. That said it is all about the price point. HD TV’s in 2003 were 3000 to 4000 dollars. They were huge boxes that had a screen between 20 and 50 inches and a cabinet that would be two feet deep. They often used the old RGYB system of video connection. HDMI was new, and back then the cables were expensive.