#fadortrend

In the world of technology, it always seems to be changing and at a rapid manner as well. Think about it, a PC you purchased a year ago was already considered an older generation more than six months ago. Technology changes so rapidly that it will either fall into the world of ‘Fad’ and become successful only for a short period of time or fall into the world of ‘Trend’ and become successful for a longer period of time.

What is trending one season or business quarter may be passed by consumers the next. In fact some technologies don’t seem to last longer than 3 months without being outdated or replaced with some newer version of technology which is either better, faster, more impressive or all of the above. It may feel impossible to stay up to date with all of the emerging technology without breaking the bank by aimlessly following every trend that hits the market. Or perhaps one that don’t even hit the market yet such as places like Kickstarter. I am not knocking down the Kickstarter area at all, just providing an example of how following every trend on there may leave your pockets empty. I personally love going there to view how innovative technology has become.

A deeper understanding of the differences between fads and trends will enable you to put an end to the technology fueled guessing game, hopefully.

The easiest way to categorize a fad is in one word: short-lived. Typically fads last for a total of one business quarter, but they can also last less than a month. Fads are novelty driven technologies. A fad is often referred to as ‘catching on’ with the larger population, but will often fade as quickly as it appeared. Remember Google Glasses? I personally don’t see or hear much about that technology anymore, despite it being a safety issue especially while driving.

Trends have a much larger lifespan than fads. In fact, they can continue to be leading standards for years and even decades. Think of JavaScript for example. In its early stages it was laughed at and ignored however in recent years JavaScript is one of the most powerful development tools out there. Not only for web design but even for video games. If you remember the new Doom game was created solely out of JavaScript code which is remarkable in and of itself. The primary difference between a trend and a fad is that trends have the potential to be long-term influences on the market. In addition, trends often involve altered classics. For example, specific phone sizes or shapes can be declared ‘trendy’. Don’t believe me? Take a look at any of the Samsung Galaxy or iPhone mobile devices. They have stuck with that same design for a while given a few changes in sizing here and there.

Resources

https://www.kickstarter.com/

https://www.colleendilen.com/2016/04/27/fads-vs-trends-how-organizations-can-tell-the-difference-and-why-it-matters/

https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/1999/12/20/smallb2.html

Nowadays, it is hard to tell the difference between a fad or a trend. Will it last or will it just fade away like everything else before it? A fad is a short-lived experience that everyone goes crazy for. A trend lasts longer than a fad, but it also adds a change of direction or a new development. 

A technological fad was the Newton PDA that was hyped up by Apple. Reasons why the Newton PDA was just a fad was because it was made fun of by comedians, it was expensive for no reason,and that it was still ahead of its time (Haskin, 2017). Although it flopped back in the 1990s, it paved way to newer inventions such as the cellphone, which turned into smartphones.

One technological trend is autonomous cars, or self-driving cars. They have begun to emerge recently with a few companies beginning the experiments and successfully creating the cars. There are still faults to be dealt with, but self-driving cars are not just a fad. More and more companies are adopting the idea, even truck companies, hoping to create self-driving trucks. “Google and other companies have been testing self-driving cars for several years now, with good success” (Meyerson, 2017). Next thing you know, the cars will be a better driver than you!

References:

Haskin, D. (2007, April 04). Don't Believe the Hype: The 21 Biggest Technology Flops. Retrieved June 18, 2017, from http://www.computerworld.com/article/2543763/computer-hardware/don-t-believe-the-hype--the-21-biggest-technology-flops.html