(01) Carr, N. G. (2003). IT doesn't matter. Educause Review, 38, 24-38. Flashcards
What invention by whom initiated a series of breakthroughs?
The invention of the microprocessor in 1968 by Ted Hoff
In what phase of an infrastructural technology could the infrastructural technology take the form of a proprietary technology and how?
In the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
In what phase of an infrastructural technology could the infrastructural technology take the form of a proprietary technology and how?
In the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfg In the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfgIn the earliest phase of the technology buildout.
As long as access to the technology is restricted—through physical limitations, intellectual property rights, high costs, or a lack of standards—a company can use it to gain advantages over rivals.
hfdtgfdfdhfddhhfg
How can you see that businesses have started to look hbghjgjhghgjgjhghjgjhghjgjhghjhjghjhjhghgjhghggjhhjghjghjhjhhghjhg at IT as a critical success factor?
Companies have come to see IT as a critical success factor, this is clearly reflected in the spending habits.
The writers of the articles talk about a shift in how managers and executives view IT. Explain how this view has changed over time.
In the beginning managers and executives viewed IT resources (computers, typewriters) as proletarian tools regulated to low level employees.
Over time chief executives started to routinely talk about the strategic value of information technology, about how they can use IT to gain a competitive edge, about the “digitization” of their business models.
Explain the key difference between proprietary and infrastructural technologies.
proprietary technologies can be owned, actually or effectively, by a single company. As long as these technologies can remain protected they can be the foundation of long-term strategic advantages, enabling companies to reap higher profits.
Infrastructural technologies, in contrast, offer far more value when shared than when used in isolation.
The characteristics and economics of infrastructural technologies make one outcome inevitable. State this outcome.
The characteristics and economics of infrastructural technologies, make it inevitable that they will be broadly shared—that they will become part of the general business infrastructure.
What is another way that infrastructural technologies can result in a competitive advantage?
Companies can also steal a march (gain a competitive edge) on their competitors by having superior insight into the use of a new technology.
Explain why the window for gaining an advantage from an infrastructural technology is small.
The window for gaining an advantage from an infrastructural technology is open only briefly. When the technology’s commercial potential begins to be broadly appreciated, huge amounts of cash are inevitably invested in it, and its buildout proceeds with extreme speed.
By the end of the buildout phase, the opportunities for individual advantage are largely gone. The rush to invest leads to more competition, greater capacity, and falling prices, making the technology broadly accessible and affordable. At the same time, the buildout forces users to adopt universal technical standards, rendering proprietary systems obsolete.
At what level and how does infrastructural technology influence competition?
Influence is felt at the macroeconomic level, not at the level of the individual company. If a particular country, for instance, lags in installing the technology—whether it’s a national rail network, a power grid, or a communication infrastructure—its domestic industries will suffer heavily.
As always, a company’s fate is tied to broader forces affecting its region and its industry. The point is, however, that the technology’s potential for differentiating one company from the pack—its strategic potential—inexorably declines as it becomes accessible and affordable to all.
State and explain the first characteristic of IT that led to the commoditization of IT.
IT is, first of all, a transport mechanism.
it carries digital information just as railroads carry goods and power grids carry electricity. And like any transport mechanism, it is far more valuable when shared than when used in isolation.
State and explain the second characteristic of IT that led to the commoditization of IT?
IT is also highly replicable.
Indeed, it is hard to imagine a more perfect commodity than a byte of data—endlessly and perfectly reproducible at virtually no cost. The near-infinite scalability of many IT functions, when combined with technical standardization, dooms most proprietary applications to economic obsolescence.
How does the internet play a role in the commoditization of IT?
The arrival of the Internet has accelerated the commoditization of IT by providing a perfect delivery channel for generic applications.
More and more, companies will fulfill their IT requirements simply by purchasing fee-based “Web services” from third parties—similar to the way they currently buy electric power or telecommunications services.
This again resulted in even greater homogenization of IT capabilities, as more companies replace customized applications with generic ones.
How does the rapid price deflation of IT play a role in the commoditization of IT?
Big declines have occurred in the cost of data storage, transmission, and processing power.
The rapidly increasing affordability of IT functionality has not only democratized the computer revolution, but it has also destroyed one of the most important potential barriers (cost-barrier) to competitors.
Even the most cutting-edge IT capabilities quickly become available to all.
From a practical standpoint, what is the most important lesson to be learned from earlier infrastructural technologies?
When a resource becomes essential to competition but inconsequential to strategy, the risks it creates become more important than the advantages it provides.
