Early versions of online courses appealed to students who could not easily maintain a regular schedule, or who needed more time to understand material. Major universities are beginning to introduce more blended online courses into their regular programs as a tweak to their offerings, but most see these as an added benefit for their traditional students rather than as tools to build completely new markets for nontraditional customers, such as part-timers or would-be students who simply cannot afford a traditional degree. This attitude is reinforced by another common feature of the new products that will eventually disrupt an industry’s primary market: Initially, they aren’t very good. Sony’s cheap, staticky, and easily breakable plastic radios seemed safe to ignore. The Apple I, introduced in 1976, hardly seemed a harbinger of doom to the managers of IBM’s mainframe monsters. So it is no surprise today to read college presidents denigrating MOOCs and the cheap, no-frills degrees being rolled out in Texas and Florida. You get what you pay for! Look at the huge non-completion rate for MOOCs! Online interaction can’t replicate the true college experience! (Even if the tab for the latter runs in the tens of thousands of dollars.) Overlooked in this slough of disdain, however, is an important stage of disruptive innovation. Left alone in markets largely ignored by industry leaders, upstart innovators can refine their products and introduce new versions, steadily improving quality while retaining the price advantage and other features that make them attractive to underserved customers. It is that period of refinement that eventually produces the real giant-killers.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 03:34:23 +0000