Case Study: Imaging S-Curves
A century of photography as a real, textbook succession of foundations of value.
Few industries illustrate progressive foundations of value as cleanly as photographic imaging. Over roughly a century, the way images were captured jumped across three (and arguably four) distinct foundations - each a new S-curve, each with its own innovation window, and each rewarding those who crossed and punishing those who did not.
Chemical film
For most of the 20th century, imaging rested on chemical film. The curve matured beautifully - ever finer grain, faster speeds - and made Kodak and Fujifilm giants. Eventually it neared its limits.
Digital sensors
A new foundation. Early digital cameras were expensive and worse than film - firmly at the bottom of a new S-curve. But they improved relentlessly, crossed the window, and made film obsolete for most uses.
Smartphone imaging + software
Yet another foundation. The camera merged into the phone, and value shifted from optics to computational photography, instant sharing, and cloud. This curve upended even the dedicated digital-camera makers.
Your Turn
Think it through, then reveal.
Map your own industry's succession of foundations of value over recent decades. Which window is opening next - and is your organisation watching its trajectory or its starting point?
Sources
- Global Innovation Institute (GInI), Foundations of Innovation body of knowledge.
- Foster, R., Innovation: The Attacker's Advantage, 1986.
- Public histories of the photographic-imaging industry, 1975-2015.