New Products
New goods and services are constantly being invented and marketed; this
is called product innovation. DVDs, smartphones, MRIs, CAT scans, DNA
tests, personal GPS devices, 3D printers, driverless cars, drones, and
many other products did not exist 30 years ago. Other products have
changed so dramatically that the only connection they have with the
“same” product from the past is the name. Today’s Ford car is very
different from a 1920 Ford, and it is even different from a 1990 Ford in
size, safety, and gasoline consumption. Modern jet aircraft are
revolutionary compared with the first passenger jet aircraft, which were
in turn many times larger and faster than the DC-3, the workhorse of the
airlines during the 1930s and 1940s. Beyond having wings and engines,
the DC-3 itself bore little resemblance to the Wright brothers’ original
flying machine.
The development of new products is a crucial part of the steady increase in living standards.- The mathematical “rule of 72” says that for any variable growing at X percent per year, 72/X
gives the approximate number of years required for the variable to double.