The dynamic nature of business

Why change leads to ideas

Technological change has an impact on innovation and acts as a catalyst for exciting ideas for new products
and services.
Not so long ago, making long car journeys meant studying a map closely and writing down instructions, or the
driver relying on someone reading a map and giving them instructions.
Soon after satnavs were launched, they became a must-have product because they took a lot of the pain and
uncertainty out of navigating. However, in 2015 The Independent reported that:
The gadget that elicited gasps of wide-eyed wonder only a decade ago is continuing a slow slide
towards obsolescence, its functionality absorbed into smartphones and car dashboards. In 2011 the
standalone sat-nav or personal navigation device (PND) was already being described as being ‘as
dead as the fax machine’.
The Independent suggested that a number of familiar everyday objects would become obsolete.
1 In the box below explain why the following items and jobs might become obsolete.

Product or service Why this might become obsolete

Home landline
Remote control
DVD and Blu-ray
Alarm clock
Postman
Milkman

2 In your opinion, what product or service is most likely to be replaced by new technology in the next 5 years
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Challenge
What product or service do you think is unlikely to be replaced by new technology in the future? Explain your
answer giving reasons and examples that have led you to believe this.

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