Connecting the Dots: How the Copier Industry Pioneered Modern Business Models

You Think I'm Crazy When I Connect the Dots

Humans tell immortal stories about figures in the sky. Illusions are created by drawing imaginary lines from one point of light to another and another and so on.

Connecting the dots illuminates a pattern and tells a story.  For instance, do you understand the following 'lights in the nighttime sky'?

Alnitak - a triple star system located at a distance of several hundred parsecs from the Sun

Alnilam - a massive, blue supergiant star some 2,000 light-years distant

Mintaka - a multiple-star system some 1,200 light-years from the Sun

Three seemingly singular points of light, to us, form the belt of the constellation Orion - visible throughout the world.

We are adept at making connections and telling stories - it is in our nature. 

At first, industries appear unrelated and vaguely disconnected. But just like the constellations, when observed from afar and with a fanciful imaginative eye connected, great stories are revealed.

As more disparate items converge, a common thread(technology) is observed between and defined. 

And so it is with kitchen appliances, video games, and farm equipment.  Not only are the technical platforms more similar as they share microchips and the Network - this connectivity births new business and consumption models: Subscription, Seat-based, Everything-As-A-Service. 

Unlocking the Power of Connectivity: From Office Technology to Smart Homes

They can call it whatever they want, the copier industry was the first to utilize this model. 

• We provided devices embedded with a per-usage revenue model. 
• We pioneered machine-to-machine advancements.
• We developed business models supported by remote monitoring and automated service call initiation.

Next, watch for 'connected' subscriptions where devices automatically initiate service calls and order supplies (dish soap, batteries, filter replacements, etc.)

I was once told, "A kitchen blender has nothing to do with Office Technology."  

That blender is a device, it is full of technology AND monitored in a smart home.  The merging of your home and office is now anywhere you want it to be.  Even if your laptop shares counter space with the bread makers, Instapot, or blender.

For those thriving in the Office Technology realm, the possibilities should be obvious: We have experience providing, monitoring, servicing technology, designing profitable business models, and creating resilient ecosystems.

We were doing all this before 'this' became a thing.  Use the accumulated knowledge to grow and accelerate into new markets.

Article of inspiration here.