If Steve Jobs listened to the practical minded, we may each still be listening to our Sony Walkman and punching our online searches into the clunky keyboards of appliance-sized desktops.
But Jobs understood the fortune of versatility as much as he did the risk. Can you?
The challenge to innovators is to change from being adverse to change. This is what defines the real game-changers.
Fear of adapting to change, whether it be technology-driven or market-driven, can slowly unhinge a company as systematically as Apple threw the PC industry off its balance. However, if a company were to embrace change, the opposite might hold true – it could lead the course to new, international trends.
A prime example is in mobile marketing, where mobile phones and smartphones act as delivery channels. Mobile marketing introduces location-based targeting as a dimension for customization. Simply put, you can connect to customers through the locations they frequent regularly and then tailor offers accordingly.
A year or two ago, many companies were resistant to this technology, preoccupied more with the immediate bang for buck than the opportunities it might lead to.
But today, companies such as Square, with its new Square Register app, and Pushpins are pioneers what may lead us all to a promising new frontier in marketing. Will you join them, or trail behind?
Just remember, unwillingness to change can result in less change in your pocket.
