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The Inversion Factor: How to Thrive in the IoT Economy
Why companies need to move away from a “product first” orientation to pursuing innovation based on customer need. In the past, companies found success with a product-first orientation; they made a thing that did a thing. The Inversion Factor explains why the companies of today and tomorrow will have to abandon the product-first orientation. Rather than asking “How do the products we make meet customer needs?” companies should ask “How can technology help us reimagine and fill a need?” Zipcar, for example, instead of developing another vehicle for moving people from point A to point B, reimagined how people interacted with vehicles. Zipcar inverted the traditional car company mission. The authors explain how the introduction of “smart” objects connected by the Internet of Things signals fundamental changes for business. The IoT, where real and digital coexist, is powering new ways to meet human needs. Companies that know this include giants like Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, Google, Tesla, and Apple, as well as less famous companies like Tile, Visenti, and Augury. The Inversion Factor offers a roadmap for businesses that want to follow in their footsteps. The authors chart the evolution of three IoTs—the Internet of Things (devices connected to the Internet), the Intelligence of Things (devices that host software applications), and the Innovation of Things (devices that become experiences). Finally, they offer a blueprint for businesses making the transition to inversion and interviews with leaders of major companies and game-changing startups.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2013
22 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 26, 2018
30 pages stretched to 200. Good but a magazine article really.
November 5, 2017
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in launching a business or transforming their company in the current era of technological innovation. While successful businesses in the past could get by on a product-first mindset, transformational companies of today, and tomorrow, put needs and experiences at the forefront. The authors offer an in-depth analysis of why this is true and provide a roadmap for the inversion model.
As a reader without a background in IoT or business, I appreciated the accessibility of the prose. Though technical in parts, the vivid examples and clear explanations make this a captivating read for anyone curious about how technological advances might shape our future. I especially enjoyed the scenarios detailing how everyday experiences will soon be transformed as well as the interviews with corporations showing how inversion is already affecting business models in interesting and unexpected ways.
As an English teacher, I also appreciated how the authors contextualized their inversion discussion. Inversion encompasses more than innovations in technology. For example, “To practice inversion as a business strategy and an engineering model, you need a new vocabulary with which to discuss, design, and deploy the technologies that make the connected world possible.” I strongly believe that communication is integral to success in all fields. While literacy education is noticeably absent from the recent emphasis on STEM subjects, it is refreshing to see a direct recognition of the role that language plays in our increasingly technological society.
As an educator, I think deeply about how the changing landscape of innovation can be, and should be, reflected in how we educate students. After reading this book, I now have an additional framework - inversion - to help me conceptualize and understand the world for which we are preparing today’s students.
As a reader without a background in IoT or business, I appreciated the accessibility of the prose. Though technical in parts, the vivid examples and clear explanations make this a captivating read for anyone curious about how technological advances might shape our future. I especially enjoyed the scenarios detailing how everyday experiences will soon be transformed as well as the interviews with corporations showing how inversion is already affecting business models in interesting and unexpected ways.
As an English teacher, I also appreciated how the authors contextualized their inversion discussion. Inversion encompasses more than innovations in technology. For example, “To practice inversion as a business strategy and an engineering model, you need a new vocabulary with which to discuss, design, and deploy the technologies that make the connected world possible.” I strongly believe that communication is integral to success in all fields. While literacy education is noticeably absent from the recent emphasis on STEM subjects, it is refreshing to see a direct recognition of the role that language plays in our increasingly technological society.
As an educator, I think deeply about how the changing landscape of innovation can be, and should be, reflected in how we educate students. After reading this book, I now have an additional framework - inversion - to help me conceptualize and understand the world for which we are preparing today’s students.
October 4, 2018
Selling products > meeting needs > creating experiences
One of the primary themes of the book is essentially "people don't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole". That's interesting and true and very relevant. It has also been written about at length in other books.
The inversion vocabulary didn't really resonate with me. The words used to describe the concepts just weren't sticky.
Read Chapter 6. That was the chapter I got really excited about, and was the one that gave me the most ideas.
What these authors bring is a deep understanding of IOT, RFID, and the technology that makes all this possible.
One of the primary themes of the book is essentially "people don't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole". That's interesting and true and very relevant. It has also been written about at length in other books.
The inversion vocabulary didn't really resonate with me. The words used to describe the concepts just weren't sticky.
Read Chapter 6. That was the chapter I got really excited about, and was the one that gave me the most ideas.
What these authors bring is a deep understanding of IOT, RFID, and the technology that makes all this possible.
August 7, 2019
Very interesting, detailed discussion of the new thinking, developed over the past 20 years or so. the book describes the product-based economy that transformed into a needs based economy. Now it's experienced based. It all came about because of the Internet of Things. As we become more connected and devices become more flexible, we can expected even more from the Innovators such as Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Uber, airb&b, and Tesla. I wish there was more discussion of AI and how that will change the world.
August 1, 2021
This book, is something I skimmed rather quickly; it is not a book, I would recommend --much of it is a rehash, of standard things known in business--, there are however perhaps some details, some less technical details people may not know...
March 18, 2019
Informative with a new perspective towards the future business models of IoT . Coming from academic engineering background, it sheds the light on several issues we don't usually read in IEEE articles.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews