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The article covers Netflix, whose CEO was named "Business person of the year" for 2010. Netflix is an interesting case study from the perspective of innovation. It has entered the DVD rental market with a business model innovation (i.e. sending DVDs to subscribers through the postal service) that disrupted incumbents such as Blockbuster. At the same time, it has realized that this innovation could be only transient, since the diffusion of broadband would have quickly led to the new paradigm of "on demand" or "streaming" content. So, it is a case of a disruptive innovator that is not afraid of rapidly disrupting the same business model on which it has built its own fortune.

Interesting perspective on one of the (possibly) disruptive innovations of the coming decade: e-paper. Some players are wondering about the time it will take to truly disrupt traditional books and, most of all, on what will the dominant design for products based on e-ink.

3D visualization is probably going to become a disruptive innovation over the next few years. This is true for movies and TV sets, but also for gaming on both TV-based and hanheld devices. As usual, the question is whether the disruption will be at the level of device makers or for manufacturers of the component (i.e. screen).

Entertainment is undergoing radical change. But will it go in the content-centric direction that Apple and Google are thinking of, or will it rather be a social network-centric model? While traditional broadcasting is till strong, it would be funny to see the disrupters being disrupted.

The diffusion of netbooks exhibits many interesting traits of radical and disruptive innovation: the change in technical tradeoffs and product architecture (though not of core technology), the downsizing in performance (good enough for a new market), the inertia shown by incumbents.

We all know stories of radical innovation becoming disruptive because incumbent cannot change their competencies and embrace the upcoming technology. Maybe not any more, given the fluidity of modern markets for technology. In fact, one of the main players of the e-paper industry, PVI, is in fact a subsidiary of a major Taiwanese paper mill, and has pursued an interesting strategy of partnership and acquisition in order to transition to the new technology.

IT is a peculiar technology, rather similar to electricity. Rather than being a sector on its own, it is becoming an enabling technology stimulating radical innovation for an ever broader range of industries. After telecoms, then media, and many other industries, it is now the turn of energy to be affected by "smart grid" technology. Spotting the next radical and disruptive inovation could be easy: just try finding an industry where IT has not yet created a lot of change.

3d television is emerging as a radical and potentially disruptive innovation. As usual, availability of complementary goods (content) is a key element in stimulating diffusion, but this time Panasonic is taking an interesting twist to this story. Instead of relying on partnerships with traditional creators and distributors of content (movie producers and broadcasting operators), it is wondering whether a 3d YouTube coiuld be the real solution. Of course, this could lead to completely different business models.

Facebook is not only a social network, but potentially a source of disruptive innovation in many fields, from information sharing to commerce. The degree with which this will happen is of course still a big question mark. Another big question mark is related to the degree with which all this is just "emergent" or whether it is coming from a precise strategic intent

One of the first examples of the Internet of Things, i.e. using the idea of the Web 2.0 (i.e. user-generated content) but with objects providing the information. Disruptive? Potentially yes, because it kills the need for expensive dedicated infrastructure. Of course, an interesting idea but you must also think about what will the sustainable business models be.

Nintendo still is a leader in the games console industry. Now it is the turn for portable devices  with 3D screens that do not require the use of glasses. One big question is whether this innovation will be disruptive or not, since 3D screens and games are "modules" that are likely to be available to all competitors.

Apple seems to be inarrestable. A dominant position in digital music, a potentially winning entry in the e-book industry (thanks to the iPad) and it is now looking for ways to disrupt television. No surprise that Apple's market capitalization is now bigger than Google's.

LCD-based devices are based on glass screens. Now an LCD supplier is developing plastic screens, allowing cheaper, lighter and more robust devices to be developed. This could be an interesting turning point for e-book readers, and is a nice example of the interplay between performance and diffusion. At the same time, it could become a disruptive element in the value chain, given greater bargaining power to the suppliers and taking it away from device manufacturers.

e-books are an up-and-coming technology and there is a strong debate on the way they will affect the future of newspapers. The case is more complicated for magazines, that of course require color. An interesting case of the interplay between technology performance and user needs, leading (or not) to the enabling of a disruptive innovation.

A nice comparison history between Kodak and Fuji. Aside from issues associated to culture and organizational inertia, it seems that the basic error was related to identifying core competencies, witih Kodak focusing on "imaging" (but then messing up with execution) and Fuji on chemicals.

As the row between Apple and Adobe over Flash on the iPhone OS continued to grow, we thought circumventing the issue entirely might be disruptive. If we could seamlessly deliver a site that uses Flash in Mobile Safari without installing any additional apps there'd be tons of potential uses, especially for large organizations trying to leverage existing content. Today, we're sharing a few videos of an early proof-of-concept. One of the best parts of this implementation is that there's nothing Jobs can do about it without castrating the web experience on the iPad/iPhone altogether. It's not jail-broken and it doesn't require an app or a plug-in: Just the default Safari browser.

Another basic paper that discusses the impact of technological innovation on mature industries (TV in this case) and on their business models

The new bet of Steve Jobs is to create a new need in the customers. iPad, in the middle between an iPhone and an iBook, is traying to create a new market and to change the relationship between men and computers.

In India, where two-wheelers represent the most common transportation means, Tata Motors saw the need to come up with a safer kind of transportation. In addition to this safety issue, personal transport is also problematic because of the rare availability of public transportation . Therefore, Tata Motors introduced the People's Car, called the Nano. This disruptive product innovation will surely have significant effects on the small-car segment.