The Four

We then moved to an era of product, especially in the automobile
and appliance industries, largely fostered by the innovation that was a
peace dividend from World War II. We got better cars, washing
machines, television sets, even better apparel. The leather bomber
jacket was invented in World War II, as was Silly Putty, the radar, the
microwave, the transistor, and the computer. That led to the financial
age, in which a group of companies, using cheap capital to roll up
other companies into conglomerates, built the ITTs of the world. This
in turn was followed by the great brand age of the eighties and
nineties, when the key to building shareholder value was to take an
average product—shoe, beer, soap—and build aspirational, intangible
associations around it.
As discussed in the second chapter, we are again back to an era of
product, as new technologies and platforms—be it Facebook or
Amazon user reviews—let consumers conduct diligence across a broad
array of products in a fraction of the time it used to take to shop. The
ability to conduct diligence has never been easier, which reduces the
need to default to brand or reputation. Now, the best product has a
better chance of breaking through the clutter—whereas before, the
best product without any marketing was like a tree falling in the forest.
Moreover, the injection of digital “brains” into otherwise static,
inanimate products has ushered in a new wave of innovation in which
custom, personalizable apps can be quickly downloaded and upgraded
without the need to replace the original “box.”
A mattress is a mattress until you get an iPad and some basic
technology. Then you can program in an “ultimate sleep number,” and
so can your partner. Or you can order the best mattress online,
avoiding those damp warehouses called mattress stores, and have it
delivered in a box and (cooler yet) watch it unfurl when dumped out of
the box.
I have to take my car to the dealership to get a tune-up. My
neighbor has his tune-up transmitted wirelessly into his Tesla’s
operating system. The engine receives an upgrade and instructions to
remove the speed regulator, and the car’s top speed increases from 140
to 150, remotely. Do you remember who made your landline phone,
before chips and wireless set them free?