At this link, author Stan Davis discusses where businesses must concentrate their energies in the future if they are to be successful. While it is difficult to generalize, products must have at least three characteristics to satisfy consumers of the future.
Most products will require and/or provide information. This applies to anything from the time on your VCR and microwave to where to get service or parts. To give the correct, updated information, the product must be "connected." It must be able to communicate to make sure its information is correct.
In the past, the challenge was to make products which could do anything any consumer might want. Now, products must be customized to do exactly the things a particular consumer wants to do. Author Davis uses the example of the TV guide. A "connected" and "customized" TV guide would certainly only show you the shows which are available in your area with your equipment; it could even limit itself to the shows you have indicated you are interested in.
In an era of scarce and increasingly expensive resources and rapid change, the new products must be upgradeable. New features should not require replacing the whole product and the upgrade will often be available through the "connected" characteristic.
There are very few products in existence which satisfy these three requirements so there is a huge scope available for the first in. As a small business, you'd come up with a small product that can telephone back to your central location. Ideally, the product would provide updated information relevant to its purpose and would require a regular supply of a consumable which it can order directly through the connection. With this kind of set-up, there is no advantage to being big.
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