Disruptive innovation requires a number of factors:
(1) A low cost entrant
(2) Offering capabilities that some market segment needs and wants, allowing them to
(3) Build a user base and more expansive capabilities that eventually
(4) Allow them to displace the incumbent.
Digital film initially served the low end “sharing pictures with friends” segment, only gradually displacing the “professional quality images” segment.
Obsidian’s ability to serve the “casual notetaking” segment does not in itself make them disruptive to DT’s command of the “industrial-grade research database” segment. To get there, they need step #3, which means that they need developers who themselves want a DT replacement.
