> incumbants can always be disrupted *
* Given they fail to recognize a technological tipping point
Microsoft won on the PC. Linux won (in the server world) on standards and open source. Google won on tracking and advertising. Facebook won on mobile.
Microsoft's PC has disrupted IBM and created a new "monopoly". Same with the web and mobile platforms, which are now dominated by a handful of oligopolists that appear stronger than everything seen before.
I think incumbants can always be disrupted, but can they be replaced with something structurally less prone to centralised control or are we just headed for the next cycle of disruption and re-centralisation of power?