In short, yes: the future is digital

According to the readings for this week, and a slew of others floating around regarding the future of the tech industry, the future is digital, and to keep up with it, these companies must be able to accomplish the completely reasonable ability to predict the future.

And they said sarcasm doesn't translate through text.

Bower and Christensen say companies fail because they provide a package varying from what customers already value in performance needs and/or existing attributes are constantly improving creating the opportunity for other tech companies to invade those markets.

Just look at the poor disk-drive industry Bower and Christensen discuss in their article. Starting as pioneers and caterers to customer needs, it found itself one step behind, leading to its eventual obsoleteness.

But while I read these words, I couldn't avoid thinking about Apple and how expertly it has consistently predicted the future. In Forbes' article "How will Apple stay on top? It must disrupt itself again," the tech giant has managed to surpass other huge companies by just having a sexy design. But here's why the author cautions against hinging on its loyal base for much longer:

"Both Google and Microsoft have recently strengthened their own positions. The Android system and Windows 8 now allow these juggernauts to create their own ecosystems, making it harder to draw new Apple groupies. And let’s not kid ourselves, if Apple is cool Google is at least as cool. Just ask yourself, if you were a 21-year-old Stanford graduate with the world on a string, which company would you want to work for?"

There are too many tech players for Apple to keep doing what they're doing, so they must aim to disrupt themselves again.  Disruption is the only path to survival.

That goes for mobile advertising as well, according to the Huffington Post article. These same companies, and many others, are adapting too slowly. They aren't excelling at incorporating the four elements that Tom Lowery argues are imperative to business survival: diversity, quality, innovation, experimentation and influence. They're investing in print, rather than diversifying their advertising platforms.

He goes on to say "not having a mobile strategy is a 'recipe for disruption,' with a dash of eventual panic thrown in." Now, if disruption is a catalyst for innovation, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Tech companies will set themselves up to procrastinate on getting with the program and only the swiftest to adapt will survive.