Interesting Trend and Tipping Point

Interesting Trend

I just learned a idea of Microsoft from a guest speaker in my management class yesterday. He said: “Microsoft is so famous and grows so fast not because it sells software. It is because it sells integration.“ I still remember what kind of mobile device I was asking from my mom when I was just a tiny 10 year-old boy (not physical tiny…).

1.       Have you heard of B.B. Call or do you still remember B.B. Call? Before cell phone came out and became a necessary for life, B.B. Call was the only way that you could reach your family or friends while they were traveling. A B.B. Call averagely cost $100 USD at the time. 

2.       Cell phone came out with no text service. If you ever used B.B. Call before, you would know how it suffered while looking for a telephone. So cell phone eliminated this pain. A cell phone averagely cost few hundred USD dollars at the time.

3.       Cell phone text service came out, but it was not popular on usage.

4.       And then, the crucial juncture of mobile trends struck the mobile industry. A mobile phone could carry 0.3 MP camera without flash and it cost over $300 USD dollars at the time.

5.       Color screen with 1 MP camera and flash. It average cost $300 USD.

6.       Few years later, touch screen came out with better screen and cameras and open another new world, and it averagely cost $200-300 USD.   

So what did you see? The reason why I used cell phone before was because I could make calls. It was so cool. A little tiny thing can make calls and chat with your friends. And how about now? The purpose of cell phone is not only to make calls but to multi-task. And the growth of mobile market should look like this (see attached). Mobile industry grows so fast not only because they enable worldwide communication but because it integrates so many trends into a small devices. 

* Images are from Flicker.com and U.S Digital Year In Review 2010.

 

Tipping Point

Something rises up rapidly and fades out eventually. How does this happen? Let me raise an example. I found the color of my sister’s nails were extremely unusual. It looked like her nails were necrosis and therefore turned into gray. And she defends herself that it was the most popular color of Chanel nail polish this year. And gradually I found a big group of girls at church started getting into this gray tone.

Again, how does this happen?

Three Rules:

1.       The Law of Few: She later on found out her friends were also using the same color. When they went to church, bunch of girls saw their nails and were in a favor of this color. They started using it. This pattern may also happen in other side of world.

2.       The Stickness Factor:  She used the color because she said that a lot of models used it. She usually read fashion magazine or TV shows.

3.       The Power of Context: She often got the compliment of the color of her nails. She introduced to her friends and told them how it is popular right now.

And this color faded out eventually. I never saw this color nails again at church.