This chart does generalise a little, as every technology develops differently and has an inception-to-release timescale that is unique to it, however, it represents the relative position and timing of the different phases, especially the Opportunity and Necessity windows in any successful, important technology. You will notice that the Hype Cycle is both effected by and effects the O/N windows. The chart also ends deliberately prematurely and fails to show the continuing growth of the Necessity window, which, with important technologies, grows exponentially to dwarf this part of the chart.
For a relatively short time during the lifecycle of inception, development, alpha/beta testing and final release of a technology (software or hardware), there is a window of opportunity for us as creative technologists. Here I will use the example of a single technology, however, in real life an existing technology often goes into an additional window of opportunity due to the creation of another, newer, symbiotic technology coming into it’s own window of opportunity. No one technology is the solution to everything. It’s how we combine new and existing technologies to solve existing problems that creates innovation. That’s why things like Big data and Public APIs are filled with such exciting potential (but that’s another post). Continue reading →
– come along and see for yourself.