The most popular product of all time

The following is a list of the best-selling products across several categories:

Car model: VW Beetle 21.5 million
Car brand: Toyota Corolla 43 million
Music Album: Thriller 70 million
Vehicle: Honda Super Cub 87 million
Book Title: Lord of the Rings 150 million
Toy: Rubik’s Cube 350 million
Game console: Playstation 382 million
Book series: Harry Potter Series 450 million
Mobile Phone: iPhone 1 billion

The iPhone is not only the best selling mobile phone but also the best selling music player, the best selling camera, the best selling video screen and the best selling computer of all time.

It is, quite simply, the best selling product of all time.

It is that because it is so much more than a product. It is an enabler for change. It unleashed forces which we are barely able to perceive, let alone control. It changed the world because it changed us.

And it did all that in less than nine years. One has to wonder what it will enable in the next nine.

My favorite questions

  • What is an innovation? What is the difference between ideas, inventions, novelties, discoveries and creations?
  • What is a disruption, formally-speaking? Also, what is it informally speaking? Why the distinction?
  • What is Performance (or P-space)? How does Performance relate to utility, quantity, price and other microeconomic concepts?
  • What is a new market? How do we distinguish a new industry from a new market.
  • Do firms matter? Are firms causal to economic growth?
  • What is the role of technology in innovation? Can we innovate without technology? Can we fail to innovate with technology?
  • Do firms have life in the biological sense? If not how do we measure their existence?
  • What are entrepreneurs? What do they do that’s different than what managers or business leaders do?
  • How do you navigate P-space? How do you think about your business and economy in performance terms.
  • What is a diffusion? Is adoption a good measure of technological progress? What is the connection between diffusions and disruptions?
  • How does Capital map to P-space?
  • How can we maximize economic growth? Is there a growth algorithm? What is the role of government policy in growth? What about the role of the creation of customers?
  • What is the difference between consumption and non-consumption? What is non-production?
  • What are the known forms of disruption? Can there be forms we don’t yet know about?
  • Why do customers buy solutions? Understanding the causes of purchase decisions.
  • Are profit motives necessary for growth? What motivates individuals, if not profit?

If these questions are of interest to you, join the conversation at DisruptiveInnovation.org.