The inspiration for Clayton M. Christensen’s seminal theory on disruptive technology came from watching the Digital Equipment Corporation’s fall in 1988. How could the management team that had been rightfully lauded for its brilliance by every popular business publication have stumbled so badly?
As Digital’s star fell, the business press blamed the ineptitude of Digital’s management. But Dr. Christensen observed that every other minicomputer company collapsed at the same time. Since no one colludes to fail, something more was at work. He concluded that the ultimate reason for the implosion of the minicomputer industry was not just the rise of the personal computer, but what the PC represented: a disruptive technology to which the minicomputer companies could not respond.
Image: Photo by Mathew Septimus
