Page 156 -

155
Q4-2 How Can New Hardware Affect Competitive Strategies?

who manipulates large database files or edits large picture, sound, or video files needs a fast computer
like a dual processor with 3.5 Gigahertz or more. Employees whose work requires them to use many
large applications at the same time need 12 GB or more of RAM. Others can do with less.
One last comment: The cache and main memory are volatile, meaning their contents are lost
when power is off. Magnetic and optical disks are nonvolatile, meaning their contents survive
when power is off. If you suddenly lose power, the contents of unsaved memory—say, docu-
ments that have been altered—will be lost. Therefore, get into the habit of frequently (every few
minutes or so) saving documents or files that you are changing. Save your documents before your
roommate trips over the power cord.

Q4-2 How Can New Hardware Affect Competitive

Strategies?

Organizations are interested in new hardware because they represent potential opportunities, or
threats, to their ability to generate revenue. It’s important to keep an eye on new tech hardware
for the same reason you watch the weather forecast. You care about how the future will affect you.
Below we will look at three new hardware developments that have the potential to disrupt
existing organizations.
Internet of Things

The first disruptive force that has the power to change business is the Internet of Things (IoT).
This is the idea that objects are becoming connected to the Internet so they can interact with other
devices, applications, or services. Everyday objects are being embedded with hardware capable of
sensing, processing, and transmitting data. Objects can then connect to a network and share data
with any other application, service, or device.
Take your mobile phone, for example; it’s probably a smartphone. But it wasn’t always
“smart.” It started out as a simple device that just handled voice calls. Over time it became a smart
device by adding more processing power, more memory, Internet access, Wi-Fi connectivity, and
the ability to interconnect with other devices and applications (Figure 4-5). People began to use
their mobile phones much differently than before. It also changed the way businesses operate. In
2014, Amazon.com reported that more than 60 percent of its customers shopped using a mobile
device. 5
Another class of smart devices that is showing a lot of potential is augmented reality (AR).
Augmented reality is the combination of the real world with virtual images or objects, whereas
virtual reality is a completely computer-generated virtual world. Industry leaders in the AR mar-
ket, like Google (Glass), Microsoft (HoloLens), and Meta (Meta Pro), are fighting for a projected
6
$120 billion market by 2020. These smart glasses are developing in much the same way cellular
phones developed over the past 20 years. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the AR market could
disrupt the smartphone market. Imagine taking calls, browsing the Web, messaging friends, and
watching a movie without ever taking your smartphone out of your pocket.
What happens when other devices become smart? How would your life change if you had
access to a smart car, smart home appliances, or an entire smart building? Within a few short
decades it’s possible that you could interact with nearly every object around you from your
smartphone. In fact, your devices will be able to talk to other devices, anticipate your actions, make
changes, and configure themselves.
This shift away from “dumb” devices to interconnected smart devices is not lost on businesses.
Consumers like smart devices and are willing to pay more for them. Businesses want to improve
the existing devices they manufacture into a smart devices and then sell them for twice as much.
If they don’t, someone else will.