Final answer:
The term disruptive innovation describes how new technologies rapidly replace older ones, often suddenly and unexpectedly. This concept illustrates significant market shifts and the birth of new industries, as seen with the transition from film to digital photography or from floppy disks to flash drives.
Step-by-step explanation:
Disruptive innovation is the term used to describe how rapidly and consistently new, information-intensive technologies replace older ones. Contrary to a gradual, evolutionary upgrade, disruptive technology often starts by appealing to a niche market and then rapidly expands to displace established technologies, as seen with the rise of personal computers overtaking mainframes and minicomputers. An iconic example of this is how digital photography virtually eliminated the traditional film camera market. Similarly, cloud-based storage platforms have significantly impacted the demand for physical portable storage devices.
Innovation can be seen as a combination of invention—advances in knowledge—and innovation—improvements or modifications in existing products, systems, or processes. Technological change often follows a generational model where first-generation technology paves the way for subsequent, more sophisticated iterations, exemplified by the evolution from floppy disks to flash drives.
Technological globalization is accelerated by technological diffusion, which is the spread of technology across geographical borders, enhancing both economic growth and the improvement of living standards. Innovations, whether they involve new processes, products, or significant improvements to existing technologies, are key drivers of this phenomenon.