In 2008, as a young auditor at Ernst & Young, I attended my first college football game. My audit senior had won tickets and invited me along. Like many professionals at the time, I carried a company-issued Blackberry 8830 – then considered the pinnacle of “smart phone” technology. I used it to capture a video of the game, a grainy, low-resolution clip that was cutting-edge for its time.
Fast forward to today. We can now stream crystal-clear 4K videos on our iPhones from services like Netflix or YouTube. The contrast is stark, almost comical. It’s a vivid reminder of how quickly technology can advance.
This progression from pixelated Blackberry videos to 4K streaming illustrates a crucial point about frontier technologies. When new tech first enters the market, it’s easy to dismiss it as slow, inefficient, or impractical. But that’s where imagination and foresight come into play.
When evaluating emerging technologies, try asking yourself:
1) What if the quality improved tenfold?
2) What if current limitations (compute power, bandwidth, storage, etc.) were reduced by 90%?
These questions can help us see beyond immediate shortcomings and envision future potential.
Of course, not every new technology will succeed. The beauty of innovation lies in its unpredictability. But for those ideas that are executed well over the long-term, the potential to create value – both for companies and society at large – is immense.
Looking back at that grainy football video on my old Blackberry, I’m reminded of how far we’ve come. It also makes me wonder: What groundbreaking technology are we overlooking today that might seem obvious in hindsight? In the world of tech, today’s limitations are often tomorrow’s opportunities.
Stepmark Partners 