Rapid changes in technology have influenced the production of new products while rendering older ones obsolete, especially those products which have reached the limit of their shelf lives. These products in particular are made by manufacturers who have not been able to adjust with changes in technology, shifts in consumer preferences and changes in business environment. One can cite many cases of this evolution such as “buggies”-to-cars, typewriters-to computers etc. The economist Joseph Schumpeter had once described this phenomenon as “creative destruction.”
In the case of this student, she can cite as example of “creative destruction” that she personally observed the disappearance of pagers as a commonly used communications device. It was once was one of the most popular means of communicating with persons far apart from the user during the late 1980s until the middle part of the 1990s. It was a common sight in her community to see people walking, toting pagers in their hands while checking out their messages. Even in offices and houses of other person, this student had observed the widespread use of pagers by consumers. But beginning in the middle part of the 1980s, improved cellular capacities had allowed the development of cellular phones even as pagers were still in vogue. (Ajmad, 2006). As a result, telecommunication companies then introduced the commercial use of cellular phones, which were by far easier to use than pagers. Unlike pagers, a user can directly contact through the cellular phone the person one wants to call (or send a message through short messaging services). As Greene (1998) had once remarked in a magazine article, “pagers and cellular phones were as common as the cold…” By 2000s, pagers were obsolete communication devices and were completely overtaken by cellular phones. As of now, this student observes that she did not see anyone toting a pager when contacting someone. Instead, she observes that people now call their contacts through cellular phones.
This student thinks that creative destruction played a big role in the pace in which pagers have become obsolete and was quickly replaced by cellular phones as a communication gadget. Telecommunication firms have seen the potential of cellular phones as alternatives to pagers, because of advances in communication technology and the addition of more user-friendly features (larger memory, multi-purpose etc.). Beginning in the 1980s, these companies mass produced cellular phones until by the 1990s, these had become more widely used than pager units. As had been mentioned pagers were the medium of instant long distance communication in the 1980s and the 1990s. However, because of improved communication technologies and the potential benefits producing cellular phones can bring, companies had to produce more of the cellular phones, while gradually phasing out pagers. This change in the focus on production will bring in revenues to the sections of companies manufacturing cellular phones while siphoning off potential revenues for the units producing pagers. The fate was bleaker for companies producing solely pagers or providing electronic paging services; either they moved into other services or shut down entirely.
However, in hindsight, it can be said that the development of cellular phones had been more beneficial to the economy, both in financial and material terms. More users can now call or send a message to each other, even as their cellular phone units have particular features (storage of photos and sounds etc) which were not available in pagers. As telecommunications firms earned more profits due to constant use by consumers of cellular phone-based communication services, other firms were also able to provide their services to cellphone users(such as downloading of music and videos etc.).
